https://slashdot.org/firehose.pl News for nerds, stuff that matters en-us Copyright Slashdot Media. All Rights Reserved. 2026-07-03T13:23:05+00:00 Slashdot Media feedback@slashdot.org Technology 1970-01-01T00:00+00:00 1 hourly https://a.fsdn.com/sd/topics/topicslashdot.gif https://slashdot.org/firehose.pl https://slashdot.org/submission/17348636/decades-old-bash-tricks-expose-ai-coding-agents-to-supply-chain-attacks?utm_source=rss1.0&utm_medium=feed Researchers AI have uncovered a structural security flaw dubbed GuardFall that allows decades-old Bash shell tricks to bypass safeguards in most open source AI coding agents. By exploiting shell behaviors such as quote removal and variable expansion, attackers can hide malicious commands in repositories, README files, Makefiles, or other content consumed by AI agents. If executed—particularly in auto-approve or CI environments—the commands can steal credentials, compromise developer systems, or enable software supply chain attacks. According to researchers at Adversa AI, the 11 popular open source AI coding agents tested, only one successfully blocked all of the Bash trick techniques. wiredmikey 2026-06-30T16:45:39+00:00 https://slashdot.org/submission/17348596/privacy-wins-at-scotus-on-geofence-warrants?utm_source=rss1.0&utm_medium=feed The case Chatrie v. United States (No. 25-112), decided by the Supreme Court on June 29, 2026, centers on the constitutionality of "geofence warrants" under the Fourth Amendment.The BackgroundThe case originated from a 2019 armed robbery of a credit union in Midlothian, Virginia. Lacking leads, law enforcement obtained a "geofence warrant" directed at Google. This warrant required Google to provide location data for all mobile devices within a 150-meter radius of the bank during a one-hour window around the time of the robbery.Through a three-step process, Google provided anonymized data for devices in the area, then narrowed the data to specific users, and finally "de-anonymized" three individuals. Okello Chatrie was one of those individuals, and the resulting location history was used to identify him as the suspect and secure his conviction.The Supreme Court's RulingOn June 29, 2026, the Supreme Court ruled (6–3) that the government's use of a geofence warrant to acquire this location data constitutes a "search" under the Fourth Amendment.Reasonable Expectation of Privacy: Writing for the Court, Justice Elena Kagan held that an individual has a reasonable expectation of privacy in their cell phone location information, even when that data is held by a third party like Google.Rejection of the Third-Party Doctrine: The Court rejected the government's argument that users "voluntarily" shared their location data with Google, noting that modern cell phone use essentially requires this data collection and that such sensitive, detailed tracking creates an expectation of privacy that the Fourth Amendment protects.The Outcome: By establishing that these actions constitute a search, the Court essentially determined that such warrants must meet constitutional standards of probable cause and particularity. The Court vacated the lower court's decision and remanded the case, instructing the lower courts to determine if the specific warrant in this instance met those Fourth Amendment requirements.In short, the decision represents a significant victory for privacy advocates, clarifying that the digital "sweeping" of location data through geofence warrants is subject to the same constitutional protections as other government searches. schwit1 2026-06-29T15:47:21+00:00 https://slashdot.org/submission/17348530/feds-want-to-drop-requirement-for-autonomous-cars-to-have-a-brake-pedal?utm_source=rss1.0&utm_medium=feed Braking distance regulations would stick around, but the physical pedals would no longer be required for cars designed to be exclusively autonomous. I would want any autonomous car to have emergency brake and/or shutoff. sinij 2026-06-26T20:33:35+00:00 https://slashdot.org/submission/17348588/microsoft-fake-windows-error-ended-in-a-280-million-secret-settlement?utm_source=rss1.0&utm_medium=feed Facing real competition from Digital Research's DR DOS, Microsoft secretly embedded a sabotaging mechanism known as "AARD code" into beta versions of Windows 3.1 to prevent it from running on Digital Research's competing DR DOS operating system.This code triggered fake, alarming error messages to convince developers that DR DOS was unstable, effectively eliminating a significant market threat through fear, uncertainty, and doubt. Although the company disabled the feature in the final retail release, the California-based firm Caldera, Inc., which had acquired DR DOS assets, sued Microsoft for anti-competitive practices.Microsoft settled the lawsuit out of court in 2000 for $280 million, a figure that remained sealed until it was unsealed in 2009. Nothing says taking ownership and responsibility than keeping it a sealed secret for a decade. Microsoft paid for being clumsy enough to write the intent down in an email. The lesson the industry took away wasn't "don't do it." It was "don't put it in writing." Something Bill Gates forgot with Epstein. joshuark 2026-06-29T05:46:09+00:00 https://slashdot.org/submission/17348600/microsoft-wants-to-kill-docker-desktop-on-windows-with-wsl-containers?utm_source=rss1.0&utm_medium=feed Microsoft has opened the public preview of WSL containers, bringing native Linux container support directly into the Windows Subsystem for Linux. The new wslc tool allows developers to build, run, and manage Linux containers without installing separate software such as Docker Desktop.While Microsoft insists Docker Desktop, Podman Desktop, and Rancher Desktop remain important parts of the ecosystem, the direction seems obvious. If Windows eventually ships with a capable container platform built directly into WSL, many developers may decide they no longer need third-party container tools for everyday work.The announcement also includes APIs that allow Windows applications to launch Linux containers programmatically, along with enterprise management features, improved file performance, new networking technology, and tighter integration with existing Windows tooling. BrianFagioli 2026-06-29T18:53:28+00:00 https://slashdot.org/submission/17348606/satellite-pay-tv-provider-dish-dbs-prepares-for-bankruptcy-filing?utm_source=rss1.0&utm_medium=feed EchoStar Corporation’s satellite television subsidiary Dish DBS is set to file for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection as early as Tuesday, marking a significant step in the company’s long-running effort to restructure its heavy debt load amid declining traditional pay-TV subscribers and ongoing regulatory challenges, according to the Wall Street Journal. The popular satellite TV service providing access to cable TV networks has struggled to find a way to be profitable in the world of cord-cutting. The move, which has been anticipated for months, would allow the Englewood, Colorado-based company to implement a pre-negotiated deleveraging plan while seeking to stabilize its operations in a rapidly evolving telecommunications landscape.EchoStar, led by founder and chairman Charlie Ergen, has faced mounting financial pressure for years. The company carries approximately $25 billion in debt across its various entities, including its core satellite television businesses under the Dish Network and Sling TV brands, as well as its wireless operations through Boost Mobile. Subscriber losses in the traditional linear television segment have accelerated as consumers increasingly shift toward streaming services, cord-cutting trends, and alternative entertainment options. This erosion of the customer base has squeezed revenue and heightened the urgency for a comprehensive financial reset. schwit1 2026-06-30T00:47:21+00:00 https://slashdot.org/submission/17348666/sony-playstation-will-stop-releasing-games-on-discs-in-2028?utm_source=rss1.0&utm_medium=feed New PlayStation games will no longer be released on discs from January 2028, the gaming giant has announced. Sony said in a blog post new games would still be able to be bought in shops, but they would come with a digital code. It comes just days after Rockstar announced the hotly-anticipated Grand Theft Auto VI would similarly launch without a physical disc. It marks a significant moment for the gaming industry, which has in recent years begun to rely more and more on digital distribution. Sony said the move came "as consumer preferences and the broader entertainment industry continue to shift away from physical discs to digital". "This is a natural direction for Sony Interactive Entertainment to adapt to consumer trends as the general preference for digital media significantly outpaces physical discs," it added. But it has been met with some pushback online, with gaming journalist Vikki Blake calling it a "body blow to consumer rights". AmiMoJo 2026-07-01T14:31:06+00:00 https://slashdot.org/submission/17348644/windows-to-linux-refugees-which-freesmall-aps-do-you-miss-and-need?utm_source=rss1.0&utm_medium=feed Windows does have a lot of useful but smaller than power-aps. Some of these are closed source, some are open--that are not available in Linux, yet. Which applications do you need, which have no parallel in Linux? My list would have to contain GTK versions of: Irfanview image manager, which I think is unequaled in Linux, which does work to some extent under Wine. I also miss the full version of 7zip, because of its better compression settings, which File-Roller does not provide, though https://www.ruinelli.ch/p7zip-... is available but unnoticed by common distribution. Lastly, I think that Notepad++ would be a good addition to Linux. Which daily-driver aps do you need? BrendaEM 2026-06-30T23:29:17+00:00 https://slashdot.org/submission/17348654/what-is-a-quantum-computer-good-for-absolutely-nothing-yet?utm_source=rss1.0&utm_medium=feed The Verge has an article about the "absolute nothing" of quantum computers. We have yet to see a quantum computer conclusively perform a single useful task. Existing machines are simply too small and error-ridden to solve commercially relevant problems.Companies drive the hype, too. In June, Microsoft announced a new quantum computing chip named Majorana 2. It claimed the chip was a hardware advancement that accelerates its timeline to a “scalable, practical quantum computer” by 2029. But independent experts swiftly criticized the announcement. “This is complete codswallop,” Henry Legg, a physicist from the University of St. Andrews and a longtime Microsoft critic, tells The Verge.Legg just published a paper in Nature on June 24th criticizing Microsoft’s quantum claims from a year ago — peer review takes a long time — and pointing to what he sees as major discrepancies between Microsoft’s papers and press releases. Nature included Microsoft’s rebuttal.Researchers have made genuine progress in quantum computing — it’s just been largely incremental and too esoteric to immediately capture the public’s imagination. Proponents predict that the technology will lead to discoveries in medicine, as well as advances in materials science and machine learning. Meanwhile, many national security experts frame its development as a new Cold War competition between the US and China.Some have imagined the quantum computer as a cyberattack tool. In 1994, computer scientist Peter Shor developed a quantum computing algorithm for factoring prime numbers that should be able to break RSA encryption, a ubiquitous family of algorithms used to secure banking and email communications. So "RSA is dead" is the repeated mantra of the quantum computing hype.Current quantum computers like Google’s Willow are individual chips too primitive to break RSA encryption or implement drug molecule simulations. But the vision is to build scaled-up machines that can.Similar cycles have played out several times since the technology’s beginnings. Companies announce a breakthrough; independent researchers cry hype, all while investors continue to inject money into the industry. Then investors cash out and then call it a "scam" on the public.Henry Legg is more skeptical and thinks some have underestimated the fundamental challenges of scaling. “There’s no evidence of the scalability of any platform to the level that you would need to do useful quantum computations within a decade, or probably a couple of decades,” he says.While researchers have made progress toward building a useful quantum computer, it’s not clear what that use should be. “It’s such a nascent technology,” says Islam. “If you ask, what is a quantum computer good for, I do not know of an application which is a sure shot.”The Trump administration wants a useful quantum computer in two years. Are we having fun yet? joshuark 2026-07-01T04:01:10+00:00 https://slashdot.org/submission/17348552/la-schools-chief-resigns-amid-fbi-probe-into-failed-k-12-ai-chatbot-company?utm_source=rss1.0&utm_medium=feed "Four years after leaving Miami-Dade County Public Schools for one of the nation’s most prominent education jobs, Alberto Carvalho has resigned as superintendent of Los Angeles schools amid an FBI investigation," reports the Miami Herald. "The FBI has conducted raids on Carvalho’s Los Angeles home and office as part of a probe into a multimillion-dollar contract awarded to a failed AI-focused education company [AllHere Education]. Investigators also raided the Broward County home of a lobbyist connected to the deal. Carvalho led Miami-Dade public schools for 14 years before joining Los Angeles Unified School District in Feb. 2022. The lobbyist, Debra Kerr, had previously sold hundreds of thousands worth of textbooks to the Miami-Dade County school district and was retained as a salesperson for the startup chatbot company when it dealt with the Los Angeles district." In What Will It Take to Get A.I. Out of Schools?, The New Yorker's Jessica Winter points out that "Carvalho, who has denied any wrongdoing, is also on the board of [tech-backed nonprofit] Code.org [recently rebranded to CodeAI], purveyors of Mix & Move with AI," Code.org's signature tutorial for its 2025 Hour of AI, which was built on the Carvalho-endorsed Music Lab, Code.org's signature tutorial for its 2024 Hour of Code that was developed with Amazon ("Code.org has mastered the art of bringing joy and curiosity into the classroom," Carvalho gushed in a press release, "while preparing students with essential computer science skills, and Music Lab is the perfect example.”). Winter is not as big a fan of the nonprofit's edtech software as Carvalho, writing that the "Certificate of Completion," her 3rd grader brought home from school for "demonstrating an understanding of the basic concepts of Artificial Intelligence" was for "playing a computer game produced by the nonprofit Code.org in partnership with Amazon Future Engineer, called Mix & Move with AI, in which the student 'designs' a cartoon dancer and 'remixes' a popular song—available, needless to say, on Amazon Music. The game is an inane drag-and-drop affair that has little to do with A.I.; the certificate, it turned out, was merely a memento of a pointless and deceptive branding exercise [Amazon is a $30+ million Code.org Lifetime Supporter]." Carvalho has been scrubbed from the Code.org Board of Directors page — archive.org webpage captures suggest a change was made on Wednesday, three days after his Sunday resignation and on the same day that Carvalho's replacement was named by the Los Angeles Unified School District (LAUSD). Curiously, the Miami Herald earlier reported a firm registered to current Code.org Board Member and former Broward County (FL) Schools Superintendent Robert Runcie is listed as a creditor in bankruptcy files for AllHere Education, the provider of LAUSD's failed "Ed" AI chatbot that's at the center of the FBI investigation. And on Tuesday — two days after Carvalho's resignation — LAUSD banned screen time before the second grade and enacted limited use for older students, among the strictest policies in the nation, reflecting growing backlash from parents and educators concerned about an over-reliance on computers and technology in K-12 learning. theodp 2026-06-27T18:20:44+00:00 https://slashdot.org/submission/17348648/dot-announces-return-of-supersonic-flight-for-commercial-airlines?utm_source=rss1.0&utm_medium=feed Gemini summarized ... The FAA’s Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM), released on June 30, 2026, marks the first formal regulatory step toward lifting the 53-year-old ban on civil supersonic flight over the continental United States. Core Objectives of the Proposal Replacing Speed Limits with Noise Standards: The proposal would replace the current, blanket speed-based ban (dating to 1973) with a performance-based noise standard. Aircraft would be permitted to fly at speeds exceeding Mach 1 over land, provided they do not generate surface-level noise (sonic boom overpressure) exceeding a specific threshold of 0.11 pounds per square foot (psf). En-Route Focus: This specific proposal addresses en-route cruise noise. It does not set standards for takeoff and landing, which the FAA plans to address in a separate proposal later this year. Implementation of Executive Order 14304: This action fulfills part of the June 2025 Executive Order signed by President Trump, which directed the FAA to modernize aviation standards to ensure the U.S. remains a leader in aerospace innovation. Why Now? The FAA is citing significant technological advancements as the justification for this shift, specifically: Aerodynamic Innovation: New airframe designs and propulsion systems—exemplified by testing of NASA’s X-59 "quiet" demonstrator—can now break the sound barrier while reducing the sonic boom to a low-intensity "thump" that is manageable for ground-level communities. Operational Techniques: The use of "Mach cutoff" flight techniques, where speed, altitude, and atmospheric conditions are synchronized to ensure sonic booms refract back into the atmosphere rather than reaching the ground. Next Steps Public Comment: The proposal (Docket FAA-2026-6935) is now open for a 45-day public comment period. Future Regulations: The FAA intends to finalize both the en-route noise standards and the upcoming takeoff/landing noise standards by mid-2027. International Alignment: The FAA is working alongside the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) and foreign aviation authorities to ensure that these domestic standards eventually align with global frameworks for international supersonic operations.By establishing these metrics, the FAA aims to provide manufacturers—such as those developing next-generation supersonic transports—with the clear regulatory guidance needed to finalize aircraft designs and move toward commercial certification. schwit1 2026-07-01T00:56:44+00:00 https://slashdot.org/submission/17348668/first-full-synthetic-cell-created-in-minnesota?utm_source=rss1.0&utm_medium=feed The First fully synthetic cell has been created in the Department of Genetics at the University of Minnesota. Strictly it's described as a "cell-like system constructed entirely from known chemical components that can perform a complete cell cycle" and is able to replicate, but only for approximately five generations. The key advance is that the cell is "built entirely bottom-up from individually purified, non-living components" although the cell still contains material from an e-coli bacteria. "PURE is a defined mixture of 36 purified enzymes from E. coli bacteria" which includes ribosomes and provides the infrastructure for genetic replication. CNN has article on the advance including interview material with Professor Kate Adamala who lead the research and says “I know the full ingredient list of the cell, I know exactly what chemicals, what molecules at what concentrations,” she said. “It is fully defined, which means we can engineer it.” AleRunner 2026-07-01T14:49:25+00:00 https://slashdot.org/submission/17348632/county-with-37-data-centers-asks-schools-to-conserve-electricity?utm_source=rss1.0&utm_medium=feed County With 37 Data Centers Asks Schools to ‘Conserve Electricity’ ‘On June 26, the County Manager of Henrico County, Virginia, John Vithoulkas, sent an email to thousands of county employees asking them to help the local government conserve electricity. “Beginning July 1st, the rate we pay for electricity used in all Henrico County government and school facilities will increase dramatically — by 25%, increasing costs by an estimated $5 million next fiscal year. We anticipate more rate increases for electricity in the years ahead,” a copy of the email obtained by 404 Media said (emphasis his).’ Anonymous Coward 2026-06-30T16:01:46+00:00 https://slashdot.org/submission/17348582/ex-governors-big-tech-launch-raise-us-to-help-workers-navigate-the-ai-economy?utm_source=rss1.0&utm_medium=feed "Just how many jobs will AI upend?" asks the WSJ. "A new coalition of companies and policymakers said it is time to ready the U.S. workforce for major disruption, no matter the ultimate scale. To that end, the bipartisan consortium, which includes state governments, philanthropic groups and employers ranging from Amazon.com and Microsoft to Bank of America and Eli Lilly, is coming together to develop a new 'people strategy' for the artificial-intelligence era. Called RAISE US, it launches Thursday and will be led by former Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo, who served under former President Joe Biden, and former Indiana Gov. Eric Holcomb, a Republican." "Its mandate, they said, isn’t just to build retraining programs but also to reconsider decades-old policies such as unemployment insurance and act as a working lab for testing the most effective ways to transition workers to new fields. The group will explore corporate incentives for employers to hold on to workers whose jobs are disrupted by AI and prep them for new roles. The organization said it has so far raised more than $500 million—about half of its multiyear goal—from companies and nonprofit groups. It will initially work with state governments in Arkansas, Maryland, Utah and Connecticut. OpenAI and Anthropic are also involved, and academics including MIT economist David Autor sit on an advisory board." With AI "there’s an enormous amount of money and focus right now on winning the technology: the chips, the models," said Raimondo, the group’s CEO. " There’s not enough attention on securing the future for the American worker." The NY Times reported the group plans to furnish technical assistance for companies that want to retain workers as A.I. changes their roles, rather than eliminating them. Microsoft, one of the companies backing the organization, said it had already found a promising model: cross-training its entry-level lawyers in different parts of the organization and equipping them with A.I. skills in order for them to be repositioned as technology evolves. "You can think of doing that with almost any job we have," said Brad Smith, vice chair and president at Microsoft [and formerly its Chief Counsel], who recently likened AI doubters to 19th century photography naysayers. "It creates an opportunity to transfer people from jobs that are being eliminated to jobs that are being created." If you think you've seen this movie before, prior to "partnering with governors, employers, and training partners to help the American workforce make a successful transition to an AI economy" with RAISE US, Raimondo and Holcomb partnered with governors, employers and training partners to help U.S. K-12 students make a successful transition to a CS economy with the Governors for Computer Science coalition. And much like a Who's Who of CEOs endorsed RAISE US in 2026 to make the U.S. workforce AI-savvy, a Who's Who of CEOs endorsed K-12 CS education in 2022 to make U.S. students entering the workforce CS-savvy. It's another reminder that Learn To AI Is the New Learn To Code. theodp 2026-06-29T03:23:29+00:00 https://slashdot.org/submission/17348532/volkswagen-to-cut-up-to-100000-jobs-globally?utm_source=rss1.0&utm_medium=feed Volkswagen (VW) plans to cut up to 100,000 jobs around the world in the next few years as part of a dramatic overhaul.The German car giant plans to axe a sixth of its global workforce as part of a restructuring designed to save €11bn (£9.5bn) by 2030, according to local media.Oliver Blume, the chief executive, is also considering carving up the business and spinning off the namesake VW brand under the proposals, which will lead to the closure of four plants in Germany.It marks a dramatic escalation from the 50,000 job losses set out in a letter to shareholders by Mr Blume in March, which was itself higher than previous plans for 35,000 cuts. The company employs around 657,000 people worldwide.The restructuring comes as VW faces intense competition from China, which has flooded the European market with cheap electric vehicles (EVs). VW sales have remained static at around nine million vehicles a year as it grapples with the competition. schwit1 2026-06-26T21:17:20+00:00