# California Bans Legacy Admissions At Private, Nonprofit Universities
robot (shaos, 1) → All – 21:23:02 2024-09-30
An anonymous reader quotes a report from Politico: It will soon be illegal for public and private universities in California to consider an applicant's relationship to alumni or donors when deciding whether to admit them. Gov. Gavin Newsom on Monday signed a ban on the practice known as legacy admissions, a change that will affect prestigious institutions including Stanford University and the University of Southern California. California's law, which will take effect Sept. 1, 2025, is the nation's fifth legacy admissions ban, but only the second that will apply to private colleges. "In California, everyone should be able to get ahead through merit, skill, and hard work," Newsom said in a statement. "The California Dream shouldn't be accessible to just a lucky few, which is why we're opening the door to higher education wide enough for everyone, fairly."
Like other states, California won't financially penalize violators, but it will post the names of violators on the state Department of Justice's website. California will also add to data reporting requirements that it implemented in 2022, when private colleges had to start sharing the percentage of admitted students who were related to donors and alumni. Schools that run afoul of the new law will also have to report more granular demographic information about their incoming classes to the state, including the race and income of enrolled students as well as their participation in athletics. [...] Public universities in California won't be affected by the change. California State University does not consider legacy or donor ties, and the University of California system stopped doing so in 1998, two years after California voters banned race-conscious admissions through a statewide ballot measure.
[ Read more of this story ]( https://news.slashdot.org/story/24/09/30/2035213/california-bans-legacy-admissions-at-private-nonprofit-universities?utm_source=atom1.0moreanon&utm_medium=feed ) at Slashdot.
robot (shaos, 1) → All – 21:23:02 2024-09-30
An anonymous reader quotes a report from Politico: It will soon be illegal for public and private universities in California to consider an applicant's relationship to alumni or donors when deciding whether to admit them. Gov. Gavin Newsom on Monday signed a ban on the practice known as legacy admissions, a change that will affect prestigious institutions including Stanford University and the University of Southern California. California's law, which will take effect Sept. 1, 2025, is the nation's fifth legacy admissions ban, but only the second that will apply to private colleges. "In California, everyone should be able to get ahead through merit, skill, and hard work," Newsom said in a statement. "The California Dream shouldn't be accessible to just a lucky few, which is why we're opening the door to higher education wide enough for everyone, fairly."
Like other states, California won't financially penalize violators, but it will post the names of violators on the state Department of Justice's website. California will also add to data reporting requirements that it implemented in 2022, when private colleges had to start sharing the percentage of admitted students who were related to donors and alumni. Schools that run afoul of the new law will also have to report more granular demographic information about their incoming classes to the state, including the race and income of enrolled students as well as their participation in athletics. [...] Public universities in California won't be affected by the change. California State University does not consider legacy or donor ties, and the University of California system stopped doing so in 1998, two years after California voters banned race-conscious admissions through a statewide ballot measure.
[ Read more of this story ]( https://news.slashdot.org/story/24/09/30/2035213/california-bans-legacy-admissions-at-private-nonprofit-universities?utm_source=atom1.0moreanon&utm_medium=feed ) at Slashdot.
# Mazda's $10 Subscription For Remote Start Sparks Backlash After Killing Open Source Option
robot (shaos, 1) → All – 21:23:02 2024-09-30
An anonymous reader shares a report: Mazda recently surprised customers by requiring them to sign up for a subscription in order to keep certain services. Now, notable right-to-repair advocate Louis Rossmann is calling out the brand. He points to several moves by Mazda as reasons for his anger toward them. However, it turns out that customers might still have a workaround. Previously, the Japanese carmaker offered connected services, that included several features such as remote start, without the need for a subscription. At the time, the company informed customers that these services would eventually transition to a paid model.
It's important to clarify that there are two very different types of remote start we're talking about here. The first type is the one many people are familiar with where you use the key fob to start the vehicle. The second method involves using another device like a smartphone to start the car. In the latter, connected services do the heavy lifting. What is wild is that Mazda used to offer the first option on the fob. Now, it only offers the second kind, where one starts the car via phone through its connected services for a $10 monthly subscription, which comes to $120 a year. Rossmann points out that one individual, Brandon Rorthweiler, developed a workaround in 2023 to enable remote start without Mazda's subscription fees.
[ Read more of this story ]( https://slashdot.org/story/24/09/30/202227/mazdas-10-subscription-for-remote-start-sparks-backlash-after-killing-open-source-option?utm_source=atom1.0moreanon&utm_medium=feed ) at Slashdot.
robot (shaos, 1) → All – 21:23:02 2024-09-30
An anonymous reader shares a report: Mazda recently surprised customers by requiring them to sign up for a subscription in order to keep certain services. Now, notable right-to-repair advocate Louis Rossmann is calling out the brand. He points to several moves by Mazda as reasons for his anger toward them. However, it turns out that customers might still have a workaround. Previously, the Japanese carmaker offered connected services, that included several features such as remote start, without the need for a subscription. At the time, the company informed customers that these services would eventually transition to a paid model.
It's important to clarify that there are two very different types of remote start we're talking about here. The first type is the one many people are familiar with where you use the key fob to start the vehicle. The second method involves using another device like a smartphone to start the car. In the latter, connected services do the heavy lifting. What is wild is that Mazda used to offer the first option on the fob. Now, it only offers the second kind, where one starts the car via phone through its connected services for a $10 monthly subscription, which comes to $120 a year. Rossmann points out that one individual, Brandon Rorthweiler, developed a workaround in 2023 to enable remote start without Mazda's subscription fees.
[ Read more of this story ]( https://slashdot.org/story/24/09/30/202227/mazdas-10-subscription-for-remote-start-sparks-backlash-after-killing-open-source-option?utm_source=atom1.0moreanon&utm_medium=feed ) at Slashdot.
# The Big Shift From Salaries To Bonus-Based Pay
robot (shaos, 1) → All – 20:23:01 2024-09-30
More American workers are seeing their compensation tied to performance metrics, a shift from traditional fixed salaries. A 2024 survey by Alexander Group found 28% of over 300 companies are incorporating incentive pay into new roles, extending a practice once limited to sales and executive positions. Employers argue this model boosts productivity, while some workers report earning less than expected, WSJ reported Monday.
[ Read more of this story ]( https://news.slashdot.org/story/24/09/30/1957234/the-big-shift-from-salaries-to-bonus-based-pay?utm_source=atom1.0moreanon&utm_medium=feed ) at Slashdot.
robot (shaos, 1) → All – 20:23:01 2024-09-30
More American workers are seeing their compensation tied to performance metrics, a shift from traditional fixed salaries. A 2024 survey by Alexander Group found 28% of over 300 companies are incorporating incentive pay into new roles, extending a practice once limited to sales and executive positions. Employers argue this model boosts productivity, while some workers report earning less than expected, WSJ reported Monday.
[ Read more of this story ]( https://news.slashdot.org/story/24/09/30/1957234/the-big-shift-from-salaries-to-bonus-based-pay?utm_source=atom1.0moreanon&utm_medium=feed ) at Slashdot.
# Massive E-Learning Platform Udemy Gave Teachers a Gen AI 'Opt-Out Window'. It's Already Over.
robot (shaos, 1) → All – 19:23:01 2024-09-30
An anonymous reader shares a report: Udemy, an e-learning platform with more than 250,000 online classes, recently announced that it would train generative AI on the classes that its users contribute to the site. Not only were class teachers automatically opted in to having their classes used as training, Udemy said teachers would have only a three-week "window" to opt-out of training. That window has now passed. "We want to officially announce that the opt-out period for our Generative AI Program (GenAI Program) begins today, August 21st, and goes through September 12th. The choice to participate in the GenAI program is yours. If you want to participate, no action is needed!," Udemy said in a post on its community forums August 21. In an "Instructor Generative AI Policy" document, it says it plans to offer "Annual Periods designated by us" during which instructors can opt-out of having their classes trained on, and said that when people opt-out of training, it will remove the instructors' classes from its dataset "by the end of the calendar year." It has also told instructors that "By opting out, you'll lose access to all AI features and benefits, which may affect your course visibility and potential earnings." With the first opt-out window having passed, instructors are now seeing a grayed-out option in their settings if they didn't know about the window or would like to opt-out now.
[ Read more of this story ]( https://slashdot.org/story/24/09/30/198215/massive-e-learning-platform-udemy-gave-teachers-a-gen-ai-opt-out-window-its-already-over?utm_source=atom1.0moreanon&utm_medium=feed ) at Slashdot.
robot (shaos, 1) → All – 19:23:01 2024-09-30
An anonymous reader shares a report: Udemy, an e-learning platform with more than 250,000 online classes, recently announced that it would train generative AI on the classes that its users contribute to the site. Not only were class teachers automatically opted in to having their classes used as training, Udemy said teachers would have only a three-week "window" to opt-out of training. That window has now passed. "We want to officially announce that the opt-out period for our Generative AI Program (GenAI Program) begins today, August 21st, and goes through September 12th. The choice to participate in the GenAI program is yours. If you want to participate, no action is needed!," Udemy said in a post on its community forums August 21. In an "Instructor Generative AI Policy" document, it says it plans to offer "Annual Periods designated by us" during which instructors can opt-out of having their classes trained on, and said that when people opt-out of training, it will remove the instructors' classes from its dataset "by the end of the calendar year." It has also told instructors that "By opting out, you'll lose access to all AI features and benefits, which may affect your course visibility and potential earnings." With the first opt-out window having passed, instructors are now seeing a grayed-out option in their settings if they didn't know about the window or would like to opt-out now.
[ Read more of this story ]( https://slashdot.org/story/24/09/30/198215/massive-e-learning-platform-udemy-gave-teachers-a-gen-ai-opt-out-window-its-already-over?utm_source=atom1.0moreanon&utm_medium=feed ) at Slashdot.
# DirecTV To Buy Rival Dish Network
robot (shaos, 1) → All – 19:23:01 2024-09-30
DirecTV has agreed to acquire struggling rival Dish Network, creating a satellite TV behemoth with nearly 20 million subscribers. The complex transaction, announced Monday, involves private equity firm TPG acquiring a majority stake in DirecTV from AT&T for $7.6 billion. DirecTV will then purchase Dish for $1 and assume its debt.
The deal provides a lifeline for Dish, which faces $2 billion in debt due November with only $500 million in available cash. EchoStar, Dish's parent company, will retain its wireless spectrum investments and operate independently. Subject to regulatory approval and creditor agreement, the merger is expected to close in late 2025. DirecTV and TPG will provide $2.5 billion to cover Dish's immediate financial needs. The deal's fate remains uncertain, as a similar 2002 merger attempt was blocked on antitrust grounds.
[ Read more of this story ]( https://news.slashdot.org/story/24/09/30/1836228/directv-to-buy-rival-dish-network?utm_source=atom1.0moreanon&utm_medium=feed ) at Slashdot.
robot (shaos, 1) → All – 19:23:01 2024-09-30
DirecTV has agreed to acquire struggling rival Dish Network, creating a satellite TV behemoth with nearly 20 million subscribers. The complex transaction, announced Monday, involves private equity firm TPG acquiring a majority stake in DirecTV from AT&T for $7.6 billion. DirecTV will then purchase Dish for $1 and assume its debt.
The deal provides a lifeline for Dish, which faces $2 billion in debt due November with only $500 million in available cash. EchoStar, Dish's parent company, will retain its wireless spectrum investments and operate independently. Subject to regulatory approval and creditor agreement, the merger is expected to close in late 2025. DirecTV and TPG will provide $2.5 billion to cover Dish's immediate financial needs. The deal's fate remains uncertain, as a similar 2002 merger attempt was blocked on antitrust grounds.
[ Read more of this story ]( https://news.slashdot.org/story/24/09/30/1836228/directv-to-buy-rival-dish-network?utm_source=atom1.0moreanon&utm_medium=feed ) at Slashdot.
# Reddit is Making Sitewide Protests Basically Impossible
robot (shaos, 1) → All – 18:23:01 2024-09-30
Reddit has implemented new restrictions on moderators' ability to alter community visibility settings, the social media platform announced Monday. Moderators must now obtain admin approval before switching subreddits between public, private, or NSFW status.
The move comes in response to last year's widespread protests against API pricing changes, during which thousands of subreddits went private, disrupting platform accessibility. Reddit VP Laura Nestler stated the policy aims to prevent actions that "deliberately cause harm" and protect the site's long-term health.
[ Read more of this story ]( https://tech.slashdot.org/story/24/09/30/1753257/reddit-is-making-sitewide-protests-basically-impossible?utm_source=atom1.0moreanon&utm_medium=feed ) at Slashdot.
robot (shaos, 1) → All – 18:23:01 2024-09-30
Reddit has implemented new restrictions on moderators' ability to alter community visibility settings, the social media platform announced Monday. Moderators must now obtain admin approval before switching subreddits between public, private, or NSFW status.
The move comes in response to last year's widespread protests against API pricing changes, during which thousands of subreddits went private, disrupting platform accessibility. Reddit VP Laura Nestler stated the policy aims to prevent actions that "deliberately cause harm" and protect the site's long-term health.
[ Read more of this story ]( https://tech.slashdot.org/story/24/09/30/1753257/reddit-is-making-sitewide-protests-basically-impossible?utm_source=atom1.0moreanon&utm_medium=feed ) at Slashdot.
# US Approves Billions in Aid To Restart Michigan Nuclear Plant
robot (shaos, 1) → All – 18:23:01 2024-09-30
The Energy Department said on Monday that it had finalized a $1.52 billion loan guarantee to help a company restart a shuttered nuclear plant in Michigan -- the latest sign of rising government support for nuclear power. From a report: Two rural electricity providers that planned to buy power from the reactor would also receive $1.3 billion in federal grants [Editor's note: the link is likely paywalled; alternative source] under a program approved by Congress to help rural communities tackle climate change. The moves will help Holtec International reopen the Palisades nuclear plant in Covert Township, Mich., which ceased operating in 2022. The company plans to inspect and refurbish the plant's reactor and seek regulatory approval to restart the plant by October 2025.
After years of stagnation, America's nuclear industry is seeing a resurgence of interest. Both Congress and the Biden administration have offered billions of dollars in subsidies to prevent older nuclear plants from closing and to build new reactors. Despite concerns about high costs and hazardous waste, nuclear plants can generate electricity at all hours without emitting the greenhouse gases that are heating the planet. David Turk, the deputy secretary of energy, said he expected U.S. electricity demand would grow by 15 percent over the next few years, driven by an increase in electric vehicles, a boom in battery and solar factories as well as a surge of new data centers for artificial intelligence. That meant the nation needs new low-carbon sources of power that could run 24/7 and complement wind and solar plants.
[ Read more of this story ]( https://news.slashdot.org/story/24/09/30/177218/us-approves-billions-in-aid-to-restart-michigan-nuclear-plant?utm_source=atom1.0moreanon&utm_medium=feed ) at Slashdot.
robot (shaos, 1) → All – 18:23:01 2024-09-30
The Energy Department said on Monday that it had finalized a $1.52 billion loan guarantee to help a company restart a shuttered nuclear plant in Michigan -- the latest sign of rising government support for nuclear power. From a report: Two rural electricity providers that planned to buy power from the reactor would also receive $1.3 billion in federal grants [Editor's note: the link is likely paywalled; alternative source] under a program approved by Congress to help rural communities tackle climate change. The moves will help Holtec International reopen the Palisades nuclear plant in Covert Township, Mich., which ceased operating in 2022. The company plans to inspect and refurbish the plant's reactor and seek regulatory approval to restart the plant by October 2025.
After years of stagnation, America's nuclear industry is seeing a resurgence of interest. Both Congress and the Biden administration have offered billions of dollars in subsidies to prevent older nuclear plants from closing and to build new reactors. Despite concerns about high costs and hazardous waste, nuclear plants can generate electricity at all hours without emitting the greenhouse gases that are heating the planet. David Turk, the deputy secretary of energy, said he expected U.S. electricity demand would grow by 15 percent over the next few years, driven by an increase in electric vehicles, a boom in battery and solar factories as well as a surge of new data centers for artificial intelligence. That meant the nation needs new low-carbon sources of power that could run 24/7 and complement wind and solar plants.
[ Read more of this story ]( https://news.slashdot.org/story/24/09/30/177218/us-approves-billions-in-aid-to-restart-michigan-nuclear-plant?utm_source=atom1.0moreanon&utm_medium=feed ) at Slashdot.
# UK Ends 142-Year Coal Power Era in Industry's Birthplace
robot (shaos, 1) → All – 17:23:01 2024-09-30
AmiMoJo writes: The UK is about to stop producing any electricity from burning coal -- ending its 142-year reliance on the fossil fuel. The country's last coal power station, at Ratcliffe-on-Soar, finishes operations on Monday after running since 1967. This marks a major milestone in the country's ambitions to reduce its contribution to climate change. Coal is the dirtiest fossil fuel producing the most greenhouse gases when burnt.
The UK was the birthplace of coal power, and from tomorrow it becomes the first major economy to give it up. The first coal-fired power station in the world, the Holborn Viaduct power station, was built in 1882 in London by the inventor Thomas Edison -- bringing light to the streets of the capital. In the early 1990s, coal began to be forced out of the electricity mix by gas, but coal still remained a crucial component of the UK grid for the next two decades. In 2012, it still generated 39% of the UK's power.
In 2010, renewables generated just 7% of the UK's power. By the first half of 2024, this had grown to more than 50% -- a new record. The rapid growth of green power meant that coal could even be switched off completely for short periods, with the first coal-free days in 2017.
[ Read more of this story ]( https://news.slashdot.org/story/24/09/30/1557210/uk-ends-142-year-coal-power-era-in-industrys-birthplace?utm_source=atom1.0moreanon&utm_medium=feed ) at Slashdot.
robot (shaos, 1) → All – 17:23:01 2024-09-30
AmiMoJo writes: The UK is about to stop producing any electricity from burning coal -- ending its 142-year reliance on the fossil fuel. The country's last coal power station, at Ratcliffe-on-Soar, finishes operations on Monday after running since 1967. This marks a major milestone in the country's ambitions to reduce its contribution to climate change. Coal is the dirtiest fossil fuel producing the most greenhouse gases when burnt.
The UK was the birthplace of coal power, and from tomorrow it becomes the first major economy to give it up. The first coal-fired power station in the world, the Holborn Viaduct power station, was built in 1882 in London by the inventor Thomas Edison -- bringing light to the streets of the capital. In the early 1990s, coal began to be forced out of the electricity mix by gas, but coal still remained a crucial component of the UK grid for the next two decades. In 2012, it still generated 39% of the UK's power.
In 2010, renewables generated just 7% of the UK's power. By the first half of 2024, this had grown to more than 50% -- a new record. The rapid growth of green power meant that coal could even be switched off completely for short periods, with the first coal-free days in 2017.
[ Read more of this story ]( https://news.slashdot.org/story/24/09/30/1557210/uk-ends-142-year-coal-power-era-in-industrys-birthplace?utm_source=atom1.0moreanon&utm_medium=feed ) at Slashdot.
# Verizon Cellphone Users Report Outages Across the US
robot (shaos, 1) → All – 16:23:02 2024-09-30
Thousands of Verizon users across the United States reported having little or no cellphone service on Monday morning in major cities, including in Atlanta, Chicago, Denver, New York and Phoenix. From a report: According to the website Downdetector, which tracks user reports of internet disruptions, more than 104,000 cases of Verizon outages were reported across the country as of 11:20 a.m. Eastern, more than an hour after the first issues were reported.
A map posted on the site showed cities with the most reports. On the site, many users said their cellphones were intermittently displaying SOS mode and that they could not place calls or send or receive text messages. "We're aware of the issue affecting service for some customers," a spokesman for Verizon, Ilya Hemlin, said in a telephone interview at 11:30 a.m. "Our engineers are engaged and we are working quickly to solve the issue," he added.
[ Read more of this story ]( https://news.slashdot.org/story/24/09/30/164215/verizon-cellphone-users-report-outages-across-the-us?utm_source=atom1.0moreanon&utm_medium=feed ) at Slashdot.
robot (shaos, 1) → All – 16:23:02 2024-09-30
Thousands of Verizon users across the United States reported having little or no cellphone service on Monday morning in major cities, including in Atlanta, Chicago, Denver, New York and Phoenix. From a report: According to the website Downdetector, which tracks user reports of internet disruptions, more than 104,000 cases of Verizon outages were reported across the country as of 11:20 a.m. Eastern, more than an hour after the first issues were reported.
A map posted on the site showed cities with the most reports. On the site, many users said their cellphones were intermittently displaying SOS mode and that they could not place calls or send or receive text messages. "We're aware of the issue affecting service for some customers," a spokesman for Verizon, Ilya Hemlin, said in a telephone interview at 11:30 a.m. "Our engineers are engaged and we are working quickly to solve the issue," he added.
[ Read more of this story ]( https://news.slashdot.org/story/24/09/30/164215/verizon-cellphone-users-report-outages-across-the-us?utm_source=atom1.0moreanon&utm_medium=feed ) at Slashdot.
# Songs by Adele, Bob Dylan, Green Day, Many More Blocked by YouTube in Legal Dispute
robot (shaos, 1) → All – 16:23:02 2024-09-30
An anonymous reader shares a report: Songs by Adele, Bob Dylan, Green Day, R.E.M., Burna Boy, Rush and many others are currently unplayable on YouTube in the U.S. due to a legal dispute between the platform and the performing rights organization SESAC. Attempts to play many, but not all, songs by those artists on Saturday met with the following message: "This video contains content from SESAC. It is not available in your country."
A similar dispute between Universal Music Group and TikTok raged on for several months earlier this year before being resolved. In a statement to Variety, a YouTube rep said: "We have held good faith negotiations with SESAC to renew our existing deal. Unfortunately, despite our best efforts, we were unable to reach an equitable agreement before its expiration. We take copyright very seriously and as a result, content represented by SESAC is no longer available on YouTube in the US. We are in active conversations with SESAC and are hoping to reach a new deal as soon as possible." A source close to the situation tells Variety that the previous deal actually does not expire until next week, and suggests that YouTube's move is a negotiating tactic. SESAC is far smaller than ASCAP and BMI -- with approximately 30,000 members and 1.5 million compositions while ASCAP has nearly 800,000 members -- but as the caliber of artists affected by the block shows, it represents a comparatively large percentage of the marketplace.
[ Read more of this story ]( https://news.slashdot.org/story/24/09/30/1414227/songs-by-adele-bob-dylan-green-day-many-more-blocked-by-youtube-in-legal-dispute?utm_source=atom1.0moreanon&utm_medium=feed ) at Slashdot.
robot (shaos, 1) → All – 16:23:02 2024-09-30
An anonymous reader shares a report: Songs by Adele, Bob Dylan, Green Day, R.E.M., Burna Boy, Rush and many others are currently unplayable on YouTube in the U.S. due to a legal dispute between the platform and the performing rights organization SESAC. Attempts to play many, but not all, songs by those artists on Saturday met with the following message: "This video contains content from SESAC. It is not available in your country."
A similar dispute between Universal Music Group and TikTok raged on for several months earlier this year before being resolved. In a statement to Variety, a YouTube rep said: "We have held good faith negotiations with SESAC to renew our existing deal. Unfortunately, despite our best efforts, we were unable to reach an equitable agreement before its expiration. We take copyright very seriously and as a result, content represented by SESAC is no longer available on YouTube in the US. We are in active conversations with SESAC and are hoping to reach a new deal as soon as possible." A source close to the situation tells Variety that the previous deal actually does not expire until next week, and suggests that YouTube's move is a negotiating tactic. SESAC is far smaller than ASCAP and BMI -- with approximately 30,000 members and 1.5 million compositions while ASCAP has nearly 800,000 members -- but as the caliber of artists affected by the block shows, it represents a comparatively large percentage of the marketplace.
[ Read more of this story ]( https://news.slashdot.org/story/24/09/30/1414227/songs-by-adele-bob-dylan-green-day-many-more-blocked-by-youtube-in-legal-dispute?utm_source=atom1.0moreanon&utm_medium=feed ) at Slashdot.
# AMD Improves Zen 5 CPU Latency and Performance With BIOS Updates
robot (shaos, 1) → All – 15:23:01 2024-09-30
AMD has released BIOS updates to boost performance and reduce latency for its Ryzen 9600X and 9700X processors. The updates come a month after disappointing Zen 5 desktop CPU reviews and coincide with Windows 11 optimizations for AMD chips. The new AGESA PI 1.2.0.2 firmware addresses high core-to-core latency issues and introduces a 105-watt cTDP option, promising up to 10% performance gains for multithreaded workloads.
[ Read more of this story ]( https://it.slashdot.org/story/24/09/30/1410204/amd-improves-zen-5-cpu-latency-and-performance-with-bios-updates?utm_source=atom1.0moreanon&utm_medium=feed ) at Slashdot.
robot (shaos, 1) → All – 15:23:01 2024-09-30
AMD has released BIOS updates to boost performance and reduce latency for its Ryzen 9600X and 9700X processors. The updates come a month after disappointing Zen 5 desktop CPU reviews and coincide with Windows 11 optimizations for AMD chips. The new AGESA PI 1.2.0.2 firmware addresses high core-to-core latency issues and introduces a 105-watt cTDP option, promising up to 10% performance gains for multithreaded workloads.
[ Read more of this story ]( https://it.slashdot.org/story/24/09/30/1410204/amd-improves-zen-5-cpu-latency-and-performance-with-bios-updates?utm_source=atom1.0moreanon&utm_medium=feed ) at Slashdot.
# Epic Games Sues Google and Samsung Over App Store Restrictions
robot (shaos, 1) → All – 14:23:01 2024-09-30
Epic Games filed a new antitrust lawsuit against Google and Samsung, alleging they conspired to undermine third-party app stores. The suit focuses on Samsung's "Auto Blocker" feature, now enabled by default on new phones, which restricts app installations to "authorized sources" - primarily Google and Samsung's stores.
Epic claims Auto Blocker creates significant barriers for rival stores, requiring users to navigate a complex process to install third-party apps. The company argues this feature does not actually assess app safety, but is designed to stifle competition. Epic CEO Tim Sweeney stated the lawsuit aims to benefit all developers, not secure special privileges for Epic. The company seeks either default deactivation of Auto Blocker or creation of a fair whitelisting process for legitimate apps. This legal action follows Epic's December victory against Google in a separate antitrust case. Epic recently launched its own mobile app store, which it claims faces unfair obstacles due to Auto Blocker.
[ Read more of this story ]( https://tech.slashdot.org/story/24/09/30/1345259/epic-games-sues-google-and-samsung-over-app-store-restrictions?utm_source=atom1.0moreanon&utm_medium=feed ) at Slashdot.
robot (shaos, 1) → All – 14:23:01 2024-09-30
Epic Games filed a new antitrust lawsuit against Google and Samsung, alleging they conspired to undermine third-party app stores. The suit focuses on Samsung's "Auto Blocker" feature, now enabled by default on new phones, which restricts app installations to "authorized sources" - primarily Google and Samsung's stores.
Epic claims Auto Blocker creates significant barriers for rival stores, requiring users to navigate a complex process to install third-party apps. The company argues this feature does not actually assess app safety, but is designed to stifle competition. Epic CEO Tim Sweeney stated the lawsuit aims to benefit all developers, not secure special privileges for Epic. The company seeks either default deactivation of Auto Blocker or creation of a fair whitelisting process for legitimate apps. This legal action follows Epic's December victory against Google in a separate antitrust case. Epic recently launched its own mobile app store, which it claims faces unfair obstacles due to Auto Blocker.
[ Read more of this story ]( https://tech.slashdot.org/story/24/09/30/1345259/epic-games-sues-google-and-samsung-over-app-store-restrictions?utm_source=atom1.0moreanon&utm_medium=feed ) at Slashdot.
# Mars' Long-Lost Atmosphere Might Be Hiding in Plain Sight
robot (shaos, 1) → All – 12:23:02 2024-09-30
Newsweek writes that the missing atmosphere of Mars "may be locked up in the planet's clay-rich surface, a new study by MIT geologists has suggested."
According to the researchers, ancient water trickling through Mars' rocks could have triggered a series of chemical reactions, converting CO2 into methane and trapping the carbon in clay minerals for billions of years...
The dominant explanation relies on an interaction between the sun's rays and gases in the atmosphere. Mars lost its protective magnetic field billions of years ago, likely allowing high-energy solar particles to strike the upper atmosphere, kicking molecules off into space, according to NASA... But this might not be the whole story. The researchers focused on a type of clay mineral called smectite, known for its ability to trap carbon. These minerals, abundant on Mars, contain tiny folds that can store carbon molecules for aeons. The study was published in the journal Science Advances.
"There is plenty of evidence for a thick clay layer on the Martian surface. Almost 80 percent of satellite spectra detect these high-surface-area clay minerals on the Martian surface. Clay has been detected in craters as deep as 17 kilometers [10.5 miles]," [lead author Joshua] Murray said... Their model suggested that Mars' surface could contain up to 1.7 bar of CO2 — roughly 80 percent of its early atmospheric volume — sequestered as methane within clay deposits. This methane could still be present today, lying beneath the planet's dry and barren crust. "We know this process happens, and it is well-documented on Earth. And these rocks and clays exist on Mars," Oliver Jagoutz, the study's author, said in a statement. "So, we wanted to try and connect the dots."
The discovery that Mars' ancient atmosphere could be hidden within its surface clays offers a new perspective on the planet's history and raises intriguing possibilities for future exploration. For example, if the sequestered carbon could be recovered and converted, it could serve as a propellant for future space missions between Earth, Mars and beyond.
"In some ways, Mars' missing atmosphere could be hiding in plain sight," says the study's lead author — and the article adds that this raises some interesting possibilities.
"For example, if the sequestered carbon could be recovered and converted, it could serve as a propellant for future space missions between Earth, Mars and beyond..."
[ Read more of this story ]( https://science.slashdot.org/story/24/09/30/0435244/mars-long-lost-atmosphere-might-be-hiding-in-plain-sight?utm_source=atom1.0moreanon&utm_medium=feed ) at Slashdot.
robot (shaos, 1) → All – 12:23:02 2024-09-30
Newsweek writes that the missing atmosphere of Mars "may be locked up in the planet's clay-rich surface, a new study by MIT geologists has suggested."
According to the researchers, ancient water trickling through Mars' rocks could have triggered a series of chemical reactions, converting CO2 into methane and trapping the carbon in clay minerals for billions of years...
The dominant explanation relies on an interaction between the sun's rays and gases in the atmosphere. Mars lost its protective magnetic field billions of years ago, likely allowing high-energy solar particles to strike the upper atmosphere, kicking molecules off into space, according to NASA... But this might not be the whole story. The researchers focused on a type of clay mineral called smectite, known for its ability to trap carbon. These minerals, abundant on Mars, contain tiny folds that can store carbon molecules for aeons. The study was published in the journal Science Advances.
"There is plenty of evidence for a thick clay layer on the Martian surface. Almost 80 percent of satellite spectra detect these high-surface-area clay minerals on the Martian surface. Clay has been detected in craters as deep as 17 kilometers [10.5 miles]," [lead author Joshua] Murray said... Their model suggested that Mars' surface could contain up to 1.7 bar of CO2 — roughly 80 percent of its early atmospheric volume — sequestered as methane within clay deposits. This methane could still be present today, lying beneath the planet's dry and barren crust. "We know this process happens, and it is well-documented on Earth. And these rocks and clays exist on Mars," Oliver Jagoutz, the study's author, said in a statement. "So, we wanted to try and connect the dots."
The discovery that Mars' ancient atmosphere could be hidden within its surface clays offers a new perspective on the planet's history and raises intriguing possibilities for future exploration. For example, if the sequestered carbon could be recovered and converted, it could serve as a propellant for future space missions between Earth, Mars and beyond.
"In some ways, Mars' missing atmosphere could be hiding in plain sight," says the study's lead author — and the article adds that this raises some interesting possibilities.
"For example, if the sequestered carbon could be recovered and converted, it could serve as a propellant for future space missions between Earth, Mars and beyond..."
[ Read more of this story ]( https://science.slashdot.org/story/24/09/30/0435244/mars-long-lost-atmosphere-might-be-hiding-in-plain-sight?utm_source=atom1.0moreanon&utm_medium=feed ) at Slashdot.
# Exxon Mobil's 'Advanced' Technique for Recycling Plastic? Burning It
robot (shaos, 1) → All – 08:23:02 2024-09-30
An anonymous reader shared this report from the Los Angeles Times:
In recent years — as longstanding efforts to recycle plastics have faltered — Exxon Mobil has touted advanced recycling as a groundbreaking technology that will turn the tide on the plastic crisis. But despite its seemingly eco-friendly name, the attorney general's lawsuit denounced advanced recycling as a "public relations stunt" that largely involves superheating plastics to convert them into fuel.
At Exxon Mobil's only "advanced recycling" facility in Baytown, Texas, only 8% of plastic is remade into new material, while the remaining 92% is processed into fuel that is later burned. [California attorney general Rob] Bonta's lawsuit seeks a court order to prohibit the company from describing the practice as "advanced recycling," arguing the vast majority of plastic is destroyed. Many environmental advocates and policy experts lauded the legal action as a major step toward ending greenwashing by Exxon Mobil — the world's largest producer of single-use plastic polymer... Advanced recycling, which is also called chemical recycling, is an umbrella term that typically involves heating or dissolving plastic waste to create fuel, chemicals and waxes — a fraction of which can be used to remake plastic. The most common techniques yield only 1% to 14% of the plastic waste, according to a 2023 study by the National Renewable Energy Laboratory.
Exxon Mobil has largely used reclaimed plastic for fuel production while ramping up its virgin plastic production, according to Bonta.
The executive director of California Communities Against Toxics complains Exxon Mobil's "advanced" recycling is "the same technology we've had since the Industrial Revolution... a blast furnace." (The article also quotes her as asking "How is that better than coal?") And a UCLA researcher who studied the issue blames misperceptions about plastic recycling on "an industry-backed misinformation campaign." He agrees that the reality is "having to burn more oil to turn that plastic back into oil, which you then burn."
California's attorney general "alleges Exxon Mobil has had a patent for this technology since 1978, and the company is falsely rebranding it as 'new' and 'advanced'... It recently reemerged after the company learned that the term 'advanced recycling' resonated with members of the public..."
[ Read more of this story ]( https://news.slashdot.org/story/24/09/30/0050246/exxon-mobils-advanced-technique-for-recycling-plastic-burning-it?utm_source=atom1.0moreanon&utm_medium=feed ) at Slashdot.
robot (shaos, 1) → All – 08:23:02 2024-09-30
An anonymous reader shared this report from the Los Angeles Times:
In recent years — as longstanding efforts to recycle plastics have faltered — Exxon Mobil has touted advanced recycling as a groundbreaking technology that will turn the tide on the plastic crisis. But despite its seemingly eco-friendly name, the attorney general's lawsuit denounced advanced recycling as a "public relations stunt" that largely involves superheating plastics to convert them into fuel.
At Exxon Mobil's only "advanced recycling" facility in Baytown, Texas, only 8% of plastic is remade into new material, while the remaining 92% is processed into fuel that is later burned. [California attorney general Rob] Bonta's lawsuit seeks a court order to prohibit the company from describing the practice as "advanced recycling," arguing the vast majority of plastic is destroyed. Many environmental advocates and policy experts lauded the legal action as a major step toward ending greenwashing by Exxon Mobil — the world's largest producer of single-use plastic polymer... Advanced recycling, which is also called chemical recycling, is an umbrella term that typically involves heating or dissolving plastic waste to create fuel, chemicals and waxes — a fraction of which can be used to remake plastic. The most common techniques yield only 1% to 14% of the plastic waste, according to a 2023 study by the National Renewable Energy Laboratory.
Exxon Mobil has largely used reclaimed plastic for fuel production while ramping up its virgin plastic production, according to Bonta.
The executive director of California Communities Against Toxics complains Exxon Mobil's "advanced" recycling is "the same technology we've had since the Industrial Revolution... a blast furnace." (The article also quotes her as asking "How is that better than coal?") And a UCLA researcher who studied the issue blames misperceptions about plastic recycling on "an industry-backed misinformation campaign." He agrees that the reality is "having to burn more oil to turn that plastic back into oil, which you then burn."
California's attorney general "alleges Exxon Mobil has had a patent for this technology since 1978, and the company is falsely rebranding it as 'new' and 'advanced'... It recently reemerged after the company learned that the term 'advanced recycling' resonated with members of the public..."
[ Read more of this story ]( https://news.slashdot.org/story/24/09/30/0050246/exxon-mobils-advanced-technique-for-recycling-plastic-burning-it?utm_source=atom1.0moreanon&utm_medium=feed ) at Slashdot.
# Could Atom-Sized Black Holes Be Detected in Our Solar System?
robot (shaos, 1) → All – 04:23:01 2024-09-30
Scientific American has surprising news about the possibility of black holes the size of an atom but containing the mass of an asteroid — the so-called "primordial black holes" formed after the birth of the universe which could solve the ongoing mystery of the missing dark matter.
These atom-sized black holes "may fly through the inner solar system about once a decade, scientists say... And if they sneak by the moon or Mars, scientists should be able to detect them, a new study shows."
If one of these black holes comes near a planet or large moon, it should push the body off course enough to be measurable by current instruments. "As it passes by, the planet starts to wobble," says Sarah R. Geller, a theoretical physicist now at the University of California, Santa Cruz, and co-author of the study, which was published on September 17 in Physical Review D. "The wobble will grow over a few years but eventually it will damp out and go back to zero."
Study team member Tung X. Tran, then an undergraduate student at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, built a computer model of the solar system to see how the distance between Earth and nearby solar system objects would change after a black hole flyby. He found that such an effect would be most noticeable for Mars, whose distance scientists know within about 10 centimeters. For a black hole in the middle of the mass range, "we found that after three years the signal would grow to between one to three meters," Tran says. "That's way above the threshold of precision that we can measure." The Earth-Mars distance is particularly well tracked because scientists have been sending generations of probes and landers to the Red Planet...
In a coincidence, an independent team published a paper about its search for signs of primordial black holes flying near Earth in the same issue of Physical Review D. The researchers' simulations found that such signals could be detectable in orbital data from Global Navigation Satellite Systems, as well as gravimeters that measure variations in Earth's gravitational field.
"For decades physicists thought dark matter was likely to take the form of so-called weakly interacting massive particles (WIMPs)," the article points out. "Yet generations of ever more sensitive experiments meant to find these particles have come up empty."
California astrophysicist Kevork Abazajian tells the site that now in the scientific community, "Primordial black holes are really gaining popularity."
[ Read more of this story ]( https://science.slashdot.org/story/24/09/30/0254210/could-atom-sized-black-holes-be-detected-in-our-solar-system?utm_source=atom1.0moreanon&utm_medium=feed ) at Slashdot.
robot (shaos, 1) → All – 04:23:01 2024-09-30
Scientific American has surprising news about the possibility of black holes the size of an atom but containing the mass of an asteroid — the so-called "primordial black holes" formed after the birth of the universe which could solve the ongoing mystery of the missing dark matter.
These atom-sized black holes "may fly through the inner solar system about once a decade, scientists say... And if they sneak by the moon or Mars, scientists should be able to detect them, a new study shows."
If one of these black holes comes near a planet or large moon, it should push the body off course enough to be measurable by current instruments. "As it passes by, the planet starts to wobble," says Sarah R. Geller, a theoretical physicist now at the University of California, Santa Cruz, and co-author of the study, which was published on September 17 in Physical Review D. "The wobble will grow over a few years but eventually it will damp out and go back to zero."
Study team member Tung X. Tran, then an undergraduate student at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, built a computer model of the solar system to see how the distance between Earth and nearby solar system objects would change after a black hole flyby. He found that such an effect would be most noticeable for Mars, whose distance scientists know within about 10 centimeters. For a black hole in the middle of the mass range, "we found that after three years the signal would grow to between one to three meters," Tran says. "That's way above the threshold of precision that we can measure." The Earth-Mars distance is particularly well tracked because scientists have been sending generations of probes and landers to the Red Planet...
In a coincidence, an independent team published a paper about its search for signs of primordial black holes flying near Earth in the same issue of Physical Review D. The researchers' simulations found that such signals could be detectable in orbital data from Global Navigation Satellite Systems, as well as gravimeters that measure variations in Earth's gravitational field.
"For decades physicists thought dark matter was likely to take the form of so-called weakly interacting massive particles (WIMPs)," the article points out. "Yet generations of ever more sensitive experiments meant to find these particles have come up empty."
California astrophysicist Kevork Abazajian tells the site that now in the scientific community, "Primordial black holes are really gaining popularity."
[ Read more of this story ]( https://science.slashdot.org/story/24/09/30/0254210/could-atom-sized-black-holes-be-detected-in-our-solar-system?utm_source=atom1.0moreanon&utm_medium=feed ) at Slashdot.
# America's Vice President Gets Stuck Behind a Stalled Driverless Robotaxi
robot (shaos, 1) → All – 02:23:01 2024-09-30
As the Vice President of the United States travelled in a motorcade Saturday to a San Francisco hotel, they ended up stopped behind "a Waymo vehicle that had to be driven away from the motorcade route by police," according to a local newscast (which called it an "only in San Francisco moment").
And that's not all. One local reporter following the vice president's motorcade said "we saw not one but two driverless cars get stuck."
The San Francisco Standard adds that on Friday, California's governor "signed a bill that allows law enforcement to cite driverless car companies for traffic violations."
[ Read more of this story ]( https://idle.slashdot.org/story/24/09/30/0154239/americas-vice-president-gets-stuck-behind-a-stalled-driverless-robotaxi?utm_source=atom1.0moreanon&utm_medium=feed ) at Slashdot.
robot (shaos, 1) → All – 02:23:01 2024-09-30
As the Vice President of the United States travelled in a motorcade Saturday to a San Francisco hotel, they ended up stopped behind "a Waymo vehicle that had to be driven away from the motorcade route by police," according to a local newscast (which called it an "only in San Francisco moment").
And that's not all. One local reporter following the vice president's motorcade said "we saw not one but two driverless cars get stuck."
The San Francisco Standard adds that on Friday, California's governor "signed a bill that allows law enforcement to cite driverless car companies for traffic violations."
[ Read more of this story ]( https://idle.slashdot.org/story/24/09/30/0154239/americas-vice-president-gets-stuck-behind-a-stalled-driverless-robotaxi?utm_source=atom1.0moreanon&utm_medium=feed ) at Slashdot.
# The Hot New Trend in Commercial Real Estate? Renting to Data Centers
robot (shaos, 1) → All – 00:23:01 2024-09-30
U.S. real estate developers "are having a hard time keeping up with demand," reports the Los Angeles Times, "as businesses in search of secure spots for their servers rent nearly every square foot that becomes available..."
Construction of new data centers is at "extraordinary levels" driven by "insatiable demand," a recent report on the industry by real estate brokerage JLL found. "Never in my career of 25 years in real estate have I seen demand like this on a global scale," said JLL real estate broker Darren Eades, who specializes in data centers...
The biggest drivers are AI and cloud service providers that include some of the biggest names in tech, such as Amazon, Microsoft, Google and Oracle. With occupancy in conventional office buildings still down sharply following the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic and property values falling, data centers represent a rare ripe opportunity for real estate developers, who are pursuing opportunities in major markets like Los Angeles and less urban locales that are served by plentiful and preferably cheap power needed to run data centers. "If you can find a cluster of power to build a site, they'll come," Eades said of developers. Construction is taking place at an "extraordinary" pace nationwide and still not keeping up, the JLL data center report said. [Data center] "Vacancy declined to a record low of 3% at midyear due to insatiable demand and despite rampant construction."
Development increased more than sevenfold in two years, with the pipeline of new projects leveling off in the first half of 2024, a potential signal that the U.S. power grid cannot support development at a faster pace. But when projects currently under construction or planned are complete, the U.S. colocation market, in which businesses rent space in a data center owned by another company for their servers and other computing hardware, will triple in size from current levels... Real estate investors and landlords are being drawn into the market because demand from tenants is high and they are likely to renew their leases after shouldering the costs of setting up data centers. "They invest in their space and in your space and they tend to stick around longer," said Mark Messana, president of Downtown Properties, which owns offices in Los Angeles and San Francisco. "As we all know, the office market is struggling a little bit, so it's nice to be able to have some data customers in the mix..."
Power demand for computing is growing so intense that it threatens to strain the nation's electrical grid, sending users to remote locations where power is plentiful and preferably cheap. Data center developers are working in Alabama, the Dakotas and Indiana, "traditionally states that wouldn't have data centers," Eades said.
The article includes "the mother of all data centers" in the western U.S. — a 30-story building where "thousands of miles of undersea fiber-optic cables disappear into an ordinary-looking office tower." Once a prestigious location for businesses, "The recent departure of a law firm that had been in the building more than 50 years cleared out five floors that will quickly be re-leased to data tenants, said Eades, who represents the landlord..."
To retrofit the building for data centers, "two elevators were removed so the empty shafts could hold water pipes used to help keep the temperature cool enough for the heat-producing servers" — and developers are happy rents "can be double what they are at newer downtown office high-rises, according to real estate data provider CoStar...
"By 2030, data centers could account for as much as 11% of U.S. power demand — up from 3% now, according to analysts at Goldman Sachs."
[ Read more of this story ]( https://hardware.slashdot.org/story/24/09/29/2322229/the-hot-new-trend-in-commercial-real-estate-renting-to-data-centers?utm_source=atom1.0moreanon&utm_medium=feed ) at Slashdot.
robot (shaos, 1) → All – 00:23:01 2024-09-30
U.S. real estate developers "are having a hard time keeping up with demand," reports the Los Angeles Times, "as businesses in search of secure spots for their servers rent nearly every square foot that becomes available..."
Construction of new data centers is at "extraordinary levels" driven by "insatiable demand," a recent report on the industry by real estate brokerage JLL found. "Never in my career of 25 years in real estate have I seen demand like this on a global scale," said JLL real estate broker Darren Eades, who specializes in data centers...
The biggest drivers are AI and cloud service providers that include some of the biggest names in tech, such as Amazon, Microsoft, Google and Oracle. With occupancy in conventional office buildings still down sharply following the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic and property values falling, data centers represent a rare ripe opportunity for real estate developers, who are pursuing opportunities in major markets like Los Angeles and less urban locales that are served by plentiful and preferably cheap power needed to run data centers. "If you can find a cluster of power to build a site, they'll come," Eades said of developers. Construction is taking place at an "extraordinary" pace nationwide and still not keeping up, the JLL data center report said. [Data center] "Vacancy declined to a record low of 3% at midyear due to insatiable demand and despite rampant construction."
Development increased more than sevenfold in two years, with the pipeline of new projects leveling off in the first half of 2024, a potential signal that the U.S. power grid cannot support development at a faster pace. But when projects currently under construction or planned are complete, the U.S. colocation market, in which businesses rent space in a data center owned by another company for their servers and other computing hardware, will triple in size from current levels... Real estate investors and landlords are being drawn into the market because demand from tenants is high and they are likely to renew their leases after shouldering the costs of setting up data centers. "They invest in their space and in your space and they tend to stick around longer," said Mark Messana, president of Downtown Properties, which owns offices in Los Angeles and San Francisco. "As we all know, the office market is struggling a little bit, so it's nice to be able to have some data customers in the mix..."
Power demand for computing is growing so intense that it threatens to strain the nation's electrical grid, sending users to remote locations where power is plentiful and preferably cheap. Data center developers are working in Alabama, the Dakotas and Indiana, "traditionally states that wouldn't have data centers," Eades said.
The article includes "the mother of all data centers" in the western U.S. — a 30-story building where "thousands of miles of undersea fiber-optic cables disappear into an ordinary-looking office tower." Once a prestigious location for businesses, "The recent departure of a law firm that had been in the building more than 50 years cleared out five floors that will quickly be re-leased to data tenants, said Eades, who represents the landlord..."
To retrofit the building for data centers, "two elevators were removed so the empty shafts could hold water pipes used to help keep the temperature cool enough for the heat-producing servers" — and developers are happy rents "can be double what they are at newer downtown office high-rises, according to real estate data provider CoStar...
"By 2030, data centers could account for as much as 11% of U.S. power demand — up from 3% now, according to analysts at Goldman Sachs."
[ Read more of this story ]( https://hardware.slashdot.org/story/24/09/29/2322229/the-hot-new-trend-in-commercial-real-estate-renting-to-data-centers?utm_source=atom1.0moreanon&utm_medium=feed ) at Slashdot.
# California's Governor Just Vetoed Its Controversial AI Bill
robot (shaos, 1) → All – 22:23:01 2024-09-29
"California Governor Gavin Newsom has vetoed SB 1047, a high-profile bill that would have regulated the development of AI," reports TechCrunch.
The bill "would have made companies that develop AI models liable for implementing safety protocols to prevent 'critical harms'."
The rules would only have applied to models that cost at least $100 million and use 10^26 FLOPS (floating point operations, a measure of computation) during training.
SB 1047 was opposed by many in Silicon Valley, including companies like OpenAI, high-profile technologists like Meta's chief AI scientist Yann LeCun, and even Democratic politicians such as U.S. Congressman Ro Khanna. That said, the bill had also been amended based on suggestions by AI company Anthropic and other opponents.
In a statement about today's veto, Newsom said, "While well-intentioned, SB 1047 does not take into account whether an AI system is deployed in high-risk environments, involves critical decision-making or the use of sensitive data. Instead, the.." bill applies stringent standards to even the most basic functions — so long as a large system deploys it. I do not believe this is the best approach to protecting the public from real threats posed by the technology."
"Over the past 30 days, Governor Newsom signed 17 bills covering the deployment and regulation of GenAI technology..." according to a statement from the governor's office, "cracking down on deepfakes, requiring AI watermarking, protecting children and workers, and combating AI-generated misinformation... The Newsom Administration will also immediately engage academia to convene labor stakeholders and the private sector to explore approaches to use GenAI technology in the workplace."
In a separate statement the governor pointed out California " is home to 32 of the world's 50 leading Al companies," and warned that the bill "could give the public a false sense of security about controlling this fast-moving technology. Smaller, specialized models may emerge as equally or even more dangerous than the models targeted by SB 1047 — at the potential expense of curtailing the very innovation that fuels advancement in favor of the public good..."
"While well-intentioned, SB 1047 does not take into account whether an AI system is deployed in high-risk environments, involves critical decision-making or the use of sensitive data. Instead, the bill applies stringent standards to even the most basic functions — so long as a large system deploys it.
"I do not believe this is the best approach to protecting the public from real threats posed by the technology."
[ Read more of this story ]( https://yro.slashdot.org/story/24/09/29/2150202/californias-governor-just-vetoed-its-controversial-ai-bill?utm_source=atom1.0moreanon&utm_medium=feed ) at Slashdot.
robot (shaos, 1) → All – 22:23:01 2024-09-29
"California Governor Gavin Newsom has vetoed SB 1047, a high-profile bill that would have regulated the development of AI," reports TechCrunch.
The bill "would have made companies that develop AI models liable for implementing safety protocols to prevent 'critical harms'."
The rules would only have applied to models that cost at least $100 million and use 10^26 FLOPS (floating point operations, a measure of computation) during training.
SB 1047 was opposed by many in Silicon Valley, including companies like OpenAI, high-profile technologists like Meta's chief AI scientist Yann LeCun, and even Democratic politicians such as U.S. Congressman Ro Khanna. That said, the bill had also been amended based on suggestions by AI company Anthropic and other opponents.
In a statement about today's veto, Newsom said, "While well-intentioned, SB 1047 does not take into account whether an AI system is deployed in high-risk environments, involves critical decision-making or the use of sensitive data. Instead, the.." bill applies stringent standards to even the most basic functions — so long as a large system deploys it. I do not believe this is the best approach to protecting the public from real threats posed by the technology."
"Over the past 30 days, Governor Newsom signed 17 bills covering the deployment and regulation of GenAI technology..." according to a statement from the governor's office, "cracking down on deepfakes, requiring AI watermarking, protecting children and workers, and combating AI-generated misinformation... The Newsom Administration will also immediately engage academia to convene labor stakeholders and the private sector to explore approaches to use GenAI technology in the workplace."
In a separate statement the governor pointed out California " is home to 32 of the world's 50 leading Al companies," and warned that the bill "could give the public a false sense of security about controlling this fast-moving technology. Smaller, specialized models may emerge as equally or even more dangerous than the models targeted by SB 1047 — at the potential expense of curtailing the very innovation that fuels advancement in favor of the public good..."
"While well-intentioned, SB 1047 does not take into account whether an AI system is deployed in high-risk environments, involves critical decision-making or the use of sensitive data. Instead, the bill applies stringent standards to even the most basic functions — so long as a large system deploys it.
"I do not believe this is the best approach to protecting the public from real threats posed by the technology."
[ Read more of this story ]( https://yro.slashdot.org/story/24/09/29/2150202/californias-governor-just-vetoed-its-controversial-ai-bill?utm_source=atom1.0moreanon&utm_medium=feed ) at Slashdot.
# New Flexible RISC-V Semiconductor Has Great Potential
robot (shaos, 1) → All – 20:23:01 2024-09-29
"For the first time, scientists have created a flexible programmable chip that is not made of silicon..." reports IEEE Spectrum — opening new possibilities for implantable devices, on-skin computers, brain-machine interfaces, and soft robotics.
U.K.-based Pragmatic Semiconductor produced an "ultralow-power" 32-bit microprocessor, according to the article, and "The microchip's open-source RISC-V architecture suggests it might cost less than a dollar..." This shows potential for inexpensive applications like wearable healthcare electronics and smart package labels, according to the chip's inventors:
For example, "we can develop an ECG patch that has flexible electrodes attached to the chest and a flexible microprocessor connected to flexible electrodes to classify arrhythmia conditions by processing the ECG data from a patient," says Emre Ozer, senior director of processor development at Pragmatic, a flexible chip manufacturer in Cambridge, England. Detecting normal heart rhythms versus an arrhythmia "is a machine learning task that can run in software in the flexible microprocessor," he says...
Pragmatic sought to create a flexible microchip that cost significantly less to make than a silicon processor. The new device, named Flex-RV, is a 32-bit microprocessor based on the metal-oxide semiconductor indium gallium zinc oxide (IGZO). Attempts to create flexible devices from silicon require special packaging for the brittle microchips to protect them from the mechanical stresses of bending and stretching. In contrast, pliable thin-film transistors made from IGZO can be made directly at low temperatures onto flexible plastics, leading to lower costs...
"Our end goal is to democratize computing by developing a license-free microprocessor," Ozer says... Other processors have been built using flexible semiconductors, such as Pragmatic's 32-bit PlasticARM and an ultracheap microcontroller designed by engineers in Illinois. Unlike these earlier devices, Flex-RV is programmable and can run compiled programs written in high-level languages such as C. In addition, the open-source nature of RISC-V also let the researchers equip Flex-RV with a programmable machine learning hardware accelerator, enabling artificial intelligence applications.
Each Flex-RV microprocessor has a 17.5 square millimeter core and roughly 12,600 logic gates. The research team found Flex-RV could run as fast as 60 kilohertz while consuming less than 6 milliwatts of power... The Pragmatic team found that Flex-RV could still execute programs correctly when bent to a curve with a radius of 3 millimeters. Performance varied between a 4.3 percent slowdown to a 2.3 percent speedup depending on the way it was bent.
[ Read more of this story ]( https://news.slashdot.org/story/24/09/29/1931249/new-flexible-risc-v-semiconductor-has-great-potential?utm_source=atom1.0moreanon&utm_medium=feed ) at Slashdot.
robot (shaos, 1) → All – 20:23:01 2024-09-29
"For the first time, scientists have created a flexible programmable chip that is not made of silicon..." reports IEEE Spectrum — opening new possibilities for implantable devices, on-skin computers, brain-machine interfaces, and soft robotics.
U.K.-based Pragmatic Semiconductor produced an "ultralow-power" 32-bit microprocessor, according to the article, and "The microchip's open-source RISC-V architecture suggests it might cost less than a dollar..." This shows potential for inexpensive applications like wearable healthcare electronics and smart package labels, according to the chip's inventors:
For example, "we can develop an ECG patch that has flexible electrodes attached to the chest and a flexible microprocessor connected to flexible electrodes to classify arrhythmia conditions by processing the ECG data from a patient," says Emre Ozer, senior director of processor development at Pragmatic, a flexible chip manufacturer in Cambridge, England. Detecting normal heart rhythms versus an arrhythmia "is a machine learning task that can run in software in the flexible microprocessor," he says...
Pragmatic sought to create a flexible microchip that cost significantly less to make than a silicon processor. The new device, named Flex-RV, is a 32-bit microprocessor based on the metal-oxide semiconductor indium gallium zinc oxide (IGZO). Attempts to create flexible devices from silicon require special packaging for the brittle microchips to protect them from the mechanical stresses of bending and stretching. In contrast, pliable thin-film transistors made from IGZO can be made directly at low temperatures onto flexible plastics, leading to lower costs...
"Our end goal is to democratize computing by developing a license-free microprocessor," Ozer says... Other processors have been built using flexible semiconductors, such as Pragmatic's 32-bit PlasticARM and an ultracheap microcontroller designed by engineers in Illinois. Unlike these earlier devices, Flex-RV is programmable and can run compiled programs written in high-level languages such as C. In addition, the open-source nature of RISC-V also let the researchers equip Flex-RV with a programmable machine learning hardware accelerator, enabling artificial intelligence applications.
Each Flex-RV microprocessor has a 17.5 square millimeter core and roughly 12,600 logic gates. The research team found Flex-RV could run as fast as 60 kilohertz while consuming less than 6 milliwatts of power... The Pragmatic team found that Flex-RV could still execute programs correctly when bent to a curve with a radius of 3 millimeters. Performance varied between a 4.3 percent slowdown to a 2.3 percent speedup depending on the way it was bent.
[ Read more of this story ]( https://news.slashdot.org/story/24/09/29/1931249/new-flexible-risc-v-semiconductor-has-great-potential?utm_source=atom1.0moreanon&utm_medium=feed ) at Slashdot.
# SpaceX Pausing Launches to Study Falcon 9 Issue on Crew-9 Astronaut Mission
robot (shaos, 1) → All – 19:23:01 2024-09-29
"SpaceX has temporarily grounded its Falcon 9 rocket," reports Space.com, "after the vehicle experienced an issue on the Crew-9 astronaut launch for NASA."
Crew-9 lifted off on Saturday (Sept. 28) from Florida's Cape Canaveral Space Force Station, sending NASA astronaut Nick Hague and Russian cosmonaut Aleksandr Gorbunov aloft aboard the Crew Dragon capsule "Freedom" [for a 5-month stay, returning in February with Starliner's two astronauts]. Everything appeared to go well. The Falcon 9's first stage aced its landing shortly after liftoff, and the rocket's upper stage deployed Freedom into its proper orbit; the capsule is on track to arrive at the International Space Station (ISS) on Sunday afternoon (Sept. 29) as planned. But the upper stage experienced an issue after completing that job, SpaceX announced early Sunday morning.
"After today's successful launch of Crew-9, Falcon 9's second stage was disposed in the ocean as planned, but experienced an off-nominal deorbit burn. As a result, the second stage safely landed in the ocean, but outside of the targeted area. We will resume launching after we better understand root cause," SpaceX wrote in a post on X.
Indeed, a Falcon 9 had been scheduled to launch 20 broadband satellites for the company Eutelsat OneWeb from Vandenberg Space Force Base in California on Sunday night, but that liftoff has been postponed.
[ Read more of this story ]( https://science.slashdot.org/story/24/09/29/1837227/spacex-pausing-launches-to-study-falcon-9-issue-on-crew-9-astronaut-mission?utm_source=atom1.0moreanon&utm_medium=feed ) at Slashdot.
robot (shaos, 1) → All – 19:23:01 2024-09-29
"SpaceX has temporarily grounded its Falcon 9 rocket," reports Space.com, "after the vehicle experienced an issue on the Crew-9 astronaut launch for NASA."
Crew-9 lifted off on Saturday (Sept. 28) from Florida's Cape Canaveral Space Force Station, sending NASA astronaut Nick Hague and Russian cosmonaut Aleksandr Gorbunov aloft aboard the Crew Dragon capsule "Freedom" [for a 5-month stay, returning in February with Starliner's two astronauts]. Everything appeared to go well. The Falcon 9's first stage aced its landing shortly after liftoff, and the rocket's upper stage deployed Freedom into its proper orbit; the capsule is on track to arrive at the International Space Station (ISS) on Sunday afternoon (Sept. 29) as planned. But the upper stage experienced an issue after completing that job, SpaceX announced early Sunday morning.
"After today's successful launch of Crew-9, Falcon 9's second stage was disposed in the ocean as planned, but experienced an off-nominal deorbit burn. As a result, the second stage safely landed in the ocean, but outside of the targeted area. We will resume launching after we better understand root cause," SpaceX wrote in a post on X.
Indeed, a Falcon 9 had been scheduled to launch 20 broadband satellites for the company Eutelsat OneWeb from Vandenberg Space Force Base in California on Sunday night, but that liftoff has been postponed.
[ Read more of this story ]( https://science.slashdot.org/story/24/09/29/1837227/spacex-pausing-launches-to-study-falcon-9-issue-on-crew-9-astronaut-mission?utm_source=atom1.0moreanon&utm_medium=feed ) at Slashdot.
# 67% of American Tech Workers Interested In Joining a Union
robot (shaos, 1) → All – 18:23:01 2024-09-29
Long-time Slashdot reader AsylumWraith writes: Visual Capitalist has posted an article and graph showing that, on average, 67% of US tech workers would be interested in joining a union. The percentage is highest at companies like Intuit, with 94% or respondents indicating they'd be interested in joining a union. On the other end of the scale, fewer than half of the employees at Apple, Tesla, and Google, who were surveyed were interested in such a move.
[ Read more of this story ]( https://it.slashdot.org/story/24/09/29/176258/67-of-american-tech-workers-interested-in-joining-a-union?utm_source=atom1.0moreanon&utm_medium=feed ) at Slashdot.
robot (shaos, 1) → All – 18:23:01 2024-09-29
Long-time Slashdot reader AsylumWraith writes: Visual Capitalist has posted an article and graph showing that, on average, 67% of US tech workers would be interested in joining a union. The percentage is highest at companies like Intuit, with 94% or respondents indicating they'd be interested in joining a union. On the other end of the scale, fewer than half of the employees at Apple, Tesla, and Google, who were surveyed were interested in such a move.
[ Read more of this story ]( https://it.slashdot.org/story/24/09/29/176258/67-of-american-tech-workers-interested-in-joining-a-union?utm_source=atom1.0moreanon&utm_medium=feed ) at Slashdot.
# Are Your Phone's 5G Icon and Signal Bars Lying to You?
robot (shaos, 1) → All – 17:23:01 2024-09-29
An anonymous reader shared this report from the Washington Post:
Look at the top right corner of your phone. You might see an icon with "5G" and another with vertical bars showing the strength of your internet connection. Those symbols don't mean what you think they do.
If your phone shows "5G," you're not necessarily connected to the latest and zippiest cellphone network technology. It might just mean that 5G connections are available nearby. And the bars are a cellular version of a shrug. There is no standard measure of how much signal strength each bar represents. "The connection icon is a lie," said Avi Greengart, president of the technology analysis firm Techsponential...
The good news is you might not need 5G, anyway. Most of the time, your phone calls, texting and web surfing are perfectly fine on the prior generation of wireless technology called 4G or sometimes "LTE." Many phone networks will funnel you over 5G service when it makes a real difference, like if you're on a video call or playing an intense video game.
If you see more specific types of 5G icons, like "5G UW" used by Verizon or "5G UC" if you're on T-Mobile service, Hyers said you're probably connected to a 5G network at that moment. Those extra letters or symbols sometimes indicate types of 5G technology that are capable of faster and more reliable connections, but they aren't always better, depending on your circumstances. Confusingly, AT&T has showed "5G E" icons on phones. That is not 5G service at all.
Here's how major carriers responded to the Post's reporter:
"AT&T said its '5G' indicators on phones line up with a telecommunications standards organization that established the icon to mean 5G networks are available."
"Verizon didn't respond to my questions."
"T-Mobile said for most of its cellphone network, your phone accurately reflects if you're on 5G."
The article suggests setting your phone to just automatically switch to 5G networks when high-bandwidth applications are in use...
[ Read more of this story ]( https://mobile.slashdot.org/story/24/09/28/0519250/are-your-phones-5g-icon-and-signal-bars-lying-to-you?utm_source=atom1.0moreanon&utm_medium=feed ) at Slashdot.
robot (shaos, 1) → All – 17:23:01 2024-09-29
An anonymous reader shared this report from the Washington Post:
Look at the top right corner of your phone. You might see an icon with "5G" and another with vertical bars showing the strength of your internet connection. Those symbols don't mean what you think they do.
If your phone shows "5G," you're not necessarily connected to the latest and zippiest cellphone network technology. It might just mean that 5G connections are available nearby. And the bars are a cellular version of a shrug. There is no standard measure of how much signal strength each bar represents. "The connection icon is a lie," said Avi Greengart, president of the technology analysis firm Techsponential...
The good news is you might not need 5G, anyway. Most of the time, your phone calls, texting and web surfing are perfectly fine on the prior generation of wireless technology called 4G or sometimes "LTE." Many phone networks will funnel you over 5G service when it makes a real difference, like if you're on a video call or playing an intense video game.
If you see more specific types of 5G icons, like "5G UW" used by Verizon or "5G UC" if you're on T-Mobile service, Hyers said you're probably connected to a 5G network at that moment. Those extra letters or symbols sometimes indicate types of 5G technology that are capable of faster and more reliable connections, but they aren't always better, depending on your circumstances. Confusingly, AT&T has showed "5G E" icons on phones. That is not 5G service at all.
Here's how major carriers responded to the Post's reporter:
"AT&T said its '5G' indicators on phones line up with a telecommunications standards organization that established the icon to mean 5G networks are available."
"Verizon didn't respond to my questions."
"T-Mobile said for most of its cellphone network, your phone accurately reflects if you're on 5G."
The article suggests setting your phone to just automatically switch to 5G networks when high-bandwidth applications are in use...
[ Read more of this story ]( https://mobile.slashdot.org/story/24/09/28/0519250/are-your-phones-5g-icon-and-signal-bars-lying-to-you?utm_source=atom1.0moreanon&utm_medium=feed ) at Slashdot.
# America's FDA Approves First New Drug for Schizophrenia in Over 30 Years
robot (shaos, 1) → All – 16:23:01 2024-09-29
Thursday America's Food and Drug Administration approved Cobenfy, "the first new drug to treat people with schizophrenia in more than 30 years," reports ABC News:
Most schizophrenia medications, broadly known as antipsychotics, work by changing dopamine levels, a brain chemical that affects mood, motivation, and thinking [according to Jelena Kunovac, MD, a board-certified psychiatrist and adjunct assistant professor at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, in the Department of Psychiatry]. Cobenfy takes a different approach by adjusting acetylcholine, another brain chemical that aids memory, learning and attention, she said. By focusing on acetylcholine instead of dopamine, Cobenfy may reduce schizophrenia symptoms while avoiding common side effects like weight gain, drowsiness and movement disorders, clinical trials suggest. These side effects often become so severe and unpleasant that, in some studies mirroring real-world challenges, many patients stopped treatment within 18 months of starting it.
In clinical trials, only 6% of patients stopped taking Cobenfy due to side effects, noted Dr. Samit Hirawat, chief medical officer at Bristol Myers Squibb. "That's a significant improvement over the 20-30% seen with older antipsychotic drugs," he added...
Schizophrenia is a mental health disorder that affects about 24 million people worldwide, or roughly one in 300 people, according to the World Health Organization.
"Studies for additional therapeutic uses, including the treatment of Alzheimer's disease and bipolar disorder, are also underway."
[ Read more of this story ]( https://science.slashdot.org/story/24/09/29/0614206/americas-fda-approves-first-new-drug-for-schizophrenia-in-over-30-years?utm_source=atom1.0moreanon&utm_medium=feed ) at Slashdot.
robot (shaos, 1) → All – 16:23:01 2024-09-29
Thursday America's Food and Drug Administration approved Cobenfy, "the first new drug to treat people with schizophrenia in more than 30 years," reports ABC News:
Most schizophrenia medications, broadly known as antipsychotics, work by changing dopamine levels, a brain chemical that affects mood, motivation, and thinking [according to Jelena Kunovac, MD, a board-certified psychiatrist and adjunct assistant professor at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, in the Department of Psychiatry]. Cobenfy takes a different approach by adjusting acetylcholine, another brain chemical that aids memory, learning and attention, she said. By focusing on acetylcholine instead of dopamine, Cobenfy may reduce schizophrenia symptoms while avoiding common side effects like weight gain, drowsiness and movement disorders, clinical trials suggest. These side effects often become so severe and unpleasant that, in some studies mirroring real-world challenges, many patients stopped treatment within 18 months of starting it.
In clinical trials, only 6% of patients stopped taking Cobenfy due to side effects, noted Dr. Samit Hirawat, chief medical officer at Bristol Myers Squibb. "That's a significant improvement over the 20-30% seen with older antipsychotic drugs," he added...
Schizophrenia is a mental health disorder that affects about 24 million people worldwide, or roughly one in 300 people, according to the World Health Organization.
"Studies for additional therapeutic uses, including the treatment of Alzheimer's disease and bipolar disorder, are also underway."
[ Read more of this story ]( https://science.slashdot.org/story/24/09/29/0614206/americas-fda-approves-first-new-drug-for-schizophrenia-in-over-30-years?utm_source=atom1.0moreanon&utm_medium=feed ) at Slashdot.
# Clean Energy Should Get Cheaper and Grow Even Faster
robot (shaos, 1) → All – 15:23:02 2024-09-29
J. Doyne Farmer is the director of the complexity economics program at the Institute for New Economic Thinking in Oxford's research and policy unit. And he reminds us that solar and wind energy "are very likely to get even less expensive and grow quickly," pointing out that "the rate at which a given kind of technology improves is remarkably predictable."
The best-known example is Moore's Law... Like computer chips, many other technologies also get exponentially more affordable, though at different rates. Some of the best examples are renewable energy technologies such as solar panels, lithium batteries and wind turbines. The cost of solar panels has dropped an average of 10% a year, making them about 10,000 times cheaper than they were in 1958, the year of their pioneering use to power the Vanguard 1 satellite. Lithium batteries have cheapened at a comparable pace, and the cost of wind turbines has dropped steadily too, albeit at a slower rate.
Not all technologies follow this course, however. Fossil fuels cost roughly what they did a century ago, adjusted for inflation, and nuclear power is no cheaper than it was in 1958. (In fact, partly due to heightened safety concerns, it's somewhat more expensive.)
The global deployment of technologies follows another pattern, called an S curve, increasing exponentially at first and then leveling out. Careful analysis of the spread of many technologies, from canals to the internet, makes it possible to predict the pace of technological adoption. When a technology is new, predictions are difficult, but as it develops, they get easier. Applying these ideas to the energy transition indicates that key technologies such as solar, wind, batteries and green-hydrogen-based fuels are likely to grow rapidly, dominating the energy system within the next two decades. And they will continue to get cheaper and cheaper, making energy far more affordable than it has ever been. This will happen in electricity generation first and then in sectors that are harder to decarbonize, including aviation and long-range shipping.
And in addition, "The future savings more than offset present investments to the extent that the transition would make sense from a purely economic standpoint even if we weren't worried about climate change.
"The sooner we make investments and adopt policies that enable the transition, the sooner we will realize the long-term savings."
[ Read more of this story ]( https://news.slashdot.org/story/24/09/29/0456250/clean-energy-should-get-cheaper-and-grow-even-faster?utm_source=atom1.0moreanon&utm_medium=feed ) at Slashdot.
robot (shaos, 1) → All – 15:23:02 2024-09-29
J. Doyne Farmer is the director of the complexity economics program at the Institute for New Economic Thinking in Oxford's research and policy unit. And he reminds us that solar and wind energy "are very likely to get even less expensive and grow quickly," pointing out that "the rate at which a given kind of technology improves is remarkably predictable."
The best-known example is Moore's Law... Like computer chips, many other technologies also get exponentially more affordable, though at different rates. Some of the best examples are renewable energy technologies such as solar panels, lithium batteries and wind turbines. The cost of solar panels has dropped an average of 10% a year, making them about 10,000 times cheaper than they were in 1958, the year of their pioneering use to power the Vanguard 1 satellite. Lithium batteries have cheapened at a comparable pace, and the cost of wind turbines has dropped steadily too, albeit at a slower rate.
Not all technologies follow this course, however. Fossil fuels cost roughly what they did a century ago, adjusted for inflation, and nuclear power is no cheaper than it was in 1958. (In fact, partly due to heightened safety concerns, it's somewhat more expensive.)
The global deployment of technologies follows another pattern, called an S curve, increasing exponentially at first and then leveling out. Careful analysis of the spread of many technologies, from canals to the internet, makes it possible to predict the pace of technological adoption. When a technology is new, predictions are difficult, but as it develops, they get easier. Applying these ideas to the energy transition indicates that key technologies such as solar, wind, batteries and green-hydrogen-based fuels are likely to grow rapidly, dominating the energy system within the next two decades. And they will continue to get cheaper and cheaper, making energy far more affordable than it has ever been. This will happen in electricity generation first and then in sectors that are harder to decarbonize, including aviation and long-range shipping.
And in addition, "The future savings more than offset present investments to the extent that the transition would make sense from a purely economic standpoint even if we weren't worried about climate change.
"The sooner we make investments and adopt policies that enable the transition, the sooner we will realize the long-term savings."
[ Read more of this story ]( https://news.slashdot.org/story/24/09/29/0456250/clean-energy-should-get-cheaper-and-grow-even-faster?utm_source=atom1.0moreanon&utm_medium=feed ) at Slashdot.
# Are AI Coding Assistants Really Saving Developers Time?
robot (shaos, 1) → All – 12:23:01 2024-09-29
Uplevel provides insights from coding and collaboration data, according to a recent report from CIO magazine — and recently they measured "the time to merge code into a repository [and] the number of pull requests merged" for about 800 developers over a three-month period (comparing the statistics to the previous three months).
Their study "found no significant improvements for developers" using Microsoft's AI-powered coding assistant tool Copilot, according to the article (shared by Slashdot reader snydeq):
Use of GitHub Copilot also introduced 41% more bugs, according to the study...
In addition to measuring productivity, the Uplevel study looked at factors in developer burnout, and it found that GitHub Copilot hasn't helped there, either. The amount of working time spent outside of standard hours decreased for both the control group and the test group using the coding tool, but it decreased more when the developers weren't using Copilot.
An Uplevel product manager/data analyst acknowledged to the magazine that there may be other ways to measure developer productivity — but they still consider their metrics solid. "We heard that people are ending up being more reviewers for this code than in the past... You just have to keep a close eye on what is being generated; does it do the thing that you're expecting it to do?"
The article also quotes the CEO of software development firm Gehtsoft, who says they didn't see major productivity gains from LLM-based coding assistants — but did see them introducing errors into code. With different prompts generating different code sections, "It becomes increasingly more challenging to understand and debug the AI-generated code, and troubleshooting becomes so resource-intensive that it is easier to rewrite the code from scratch than fix it."
On the other hand, cloud services provider Innovative Solutions saw significant productivity gains from coding assistants like Claude Dev and GitHub Copilot. And Slashdot reader destined2fail1990 says that while large/complex code bases may not see big gains, "I have seen a notable increase in productivity from using Cursor, the AI powered IDE."
Yes, you have to review all the code that it generates, why wouldn't you? But often times it just works. It removes the tedious tasks like querying databases, writing model code, writing forms and processing forms, and a lot more. Some forms can have hundreds of fields and processing those fields along with doing checks for valid input is time consuming, but can be automated effectively using AI.
This prompted an interesting discussion on the original story submission. Slashdot reader bleedingobvious responded:
Cursor/Claude are great BUT the code produced is almost never great quality. Even given these tools, the junior/intern teams still cannot outpace the senior devs. Great for learning, maybe, but the productivity angle not quite there.... yet.
It's damned close, though. GIve it 3-6 months.
And Slashdot reader abEeyore posted:
I suspect that the results are quite a bit more nuanced than that. I expect that it is, even outside of the mentioned code review, a shift in where and how the time is spent, and not necessarily in how much time is spent.
>> Читать далее
robot (shaos, 1) → All – 12:23:01 2024-09-29
Uplevel provides insights from coding and collaboration data, according to a recent report from CIO magazine — and recently they measured "the time to merge code into a repository [and] the number of pull requests merged" for about 800 developers over a three-month period (comparing the statistics to the previous three months).
Their study "found no significant improvements for developers" using Microsoft's AI-powered coding assistant tool Copilot, according to the article (shared by Slashdot reader snydeq):
Use of GitHub Copilot also introduced 41% more bugs, according to the study...
In addition to measuring productivity, the Uplevel study looked at factors in developer burnout, and it found that GitHub Copilot hasn't helped there, either. The amount of working time spent outside of standard hours decreased for both the control group and the test group using the coding tool, but it decreased more when the developers weren't using Copilot.
An Uplevel product manager/data analyst acknowledged to the magazine that there may be other ways to measure developer productivity — but they still consider their metrics solid. "We heard that people are ending up being more reviewers for this code than in the past... You just have to keep a close eye on what is being generated; does it do the thing that you're expecting it to do?"
The article also quotes the CEO of software development firm Gehtsoft, who says they didn't see major productivity gains from LLM-based coding assistants — but did see them introducing errors into code. With different prompts generating different code sections, "It becomes increasingly more challenging to understand and debug the AI-generated code, and troubleshooting becomes so resource-intensive that it is easier to rewrite the code from scratch than fix it."
On the other hand, cloud services provider Innovative Solutions saw significant productivity gains from coding assistants like Claude Dev and GitHub Copilot. And Slashdot reader destined2fail1990 says that while large/complex code bases may not see big gains, "I have seen a notable increase in productivity from using Cursor, the AI powered IDE."
Yes, you have to review all the code that it generates, why wouldn't you? But often times it just works. It removes the tedious tasks like querying databases, writing model code, writing forms and processing forms, and a lot more. Some forms can have hundreds of fields and processing those fields along with doing checks for valid input is time consuming, but can be automated effectively using AI.
This prompted an interesting discussion on the original story submission. Slashdot reader bleedingobvious responded:
Cursor/Claude are great BUT the code produced is almost never great quality. Even given these tools, the junior/intern teams still cannot outpace the senior devs. Great for learning, maybe, but the productivity angle not quite there.... yet.
It's damned close, though. GIve it 3-6 months.
And Slashdot reader abEeyore posted:
I suspect that the results are quite a bit more nuanced than that. I expect that it is, even outside of the mentioned code review, a shift in where and how the time is spent, and not necessarily in how much time is spent.
>> Читать далее