Sep 26 10:24pm
For the first time, Denver offered hotel rooms to people living on the streets. - Difficult, but crucial phone calls. - A cyclist from Boulder talks addiction.
Sep 26 7:24pm
A Medina Alert was issued for a 2016-2021 white Jeep Grand Cherokee after the crash near the intersection of Bowles Avenue and Echostar that killed a man.
Sep 26 6:58am
The next round of applications for e-bike vouchers opens Tuesday at 11 a.m. Denver awards vouchers on a first-come, first-served basis.
Sep 25 10:03pm
Tomorrow, Denver dismantles a homeless camp in a whole new way. - A movement to ban books across Colorado. - Roundabouts and firetrucks. - Stories of addiction. - The solution Broncos fans need.
Sep 24 4:20pm
The September sunshine will be out in full force Sunday afternoon. Look for comfortable daytime highs in the upper 70s with 80+ degree heat for the work week.
Sep 23 6:15pm
The September sunshine will be out in full force Sunday afternoon. Look for comfortable daytime highs in the upper 70s with 80+ degree heat on the way next week!
Sep 22 12:58pm
Colorado Bureau of Investigation sent a Missing Indigenous Person Alert for Nelson Franceschi, 13, and Raelicia Franceschi, 10, of Colorado Springs.
Sep 19 5:07am
Highs will remain at or above seasonal norms through the end of summer, with more fall-like highs for the weekend and into next week.
Sep 17 6:12pm
A beautiful September week to come! Look for highs in the low 80s with mainly sunny skies. Cooler weather arrives just in time for the first weekend of fall!
Sep 15 7:58pm
86 Arvada second graders got good news today...in the form of free bikes as part of a giveaway to honor a former school resource officer.
Sep 15 7:24pm
Tomas Perez-Gonzalez pleaded guilty to second-degree murder in the deadly June 2021 shooting at the Primerose Motel.
Sep 15 4:19pm
Jordan Steinke was convicted on two misdemeanors for putting Yareni Rios in the back of a patrol car that was hit by a freight train in November 2022.
Sep 14 4:30am
Temperatures will cool quite a bit - maybe not out of the 60s on Friday - but a warmer, drier recovery arrives just in time for your weekend.
Sep 11 9:46pm
People across Colorado paused Monday morning to honor the victims and heroes of 9/11 with stair climbs at Red Rocks, downtown Denver and the Manitou Incline.
Sep 11 6:47pm
Cool, unsettled weather this week. Warmer and drier the next couple days then back to cooler, cloudy weather with showers for Thursday and Friday
Sep 11 5:47pm
The participants, including firefighters in full gear, climbed the equivalent of the 110 floors of the World Trade Center, that is, 9 laps around the amphitheatre.
Sep 11 3:01pm
Cool, unsettled weather this week. Warmer and drier the next couple days then back to cooler, cloudy weather with showers for Thursday and Friday
Sep 11 11:00am
A 21-year-old man was driving a 2012 Dodge Ram when he hit a man in the intersection of Peoria Street and East Montview Boulevard, according to police.
Sep 8 10:07pm
Coloradans face a critical choice on taxes. A look at groups working to sway your opinion. - The MyPillow election denier guy could end up testifying in court.
Sep 8 4:12pm
Orlando Carbajal, 26, was arrested by Denver Police and Ashley Marie Burnet, 38, was arrested by Aurora Police.
Sep 8 12:37pm
Police responded to the 8900 block of East Colfax Avenue Thursday evening and found a man dead with a gunshot wound.
Sep 6 10:12pm
An effort to keep former President Trump off the ballot, including here in Colorado, using the 14th Amendment. - A sheriff distances himself from the leader of an armed group. - Big pharma funds addiction recovery.
Sep 5 8:27pm
We sat down with the CEO of the weapons training group that showed up to DougCo PrideFest last month. - What happens when a controversial cause of death dies itself?
Sep 5 6:38pm
Sunshine and mild weather to kick off the first full week of September. After a cooler than average day today, sunshine and 80s are back in the forecast midweek!
Sep 5 2:19pm
The Aurora Police Department said the crash happened around 11:40 p.m. Saturday near the intersection of South Chambers Road and East Iliff Avenue.
Sep 4 10:25am
With music featured in "Shrek" and "Rat Race," Smash Mouth sold over 10 million albums worldwide under late vocalist Steve Harwell.
Sep 1 9:40pm
Coloradan falsely accused of election rigging settles lawsuit with network. - How this migrant family reunited. - Do taxpayers get a say in whether Ball Arena can get more expensive and price out fans?
Sep 1 4:39pm
The shelter is designed to specifically help young people ages 12-18 who are displaced and homeless. They hope it will help those from becoming victims of a crime.
Aug 31 6:15am
John Cena is the most requested Make-A-Wish wish granter of all time, with more than 650 visits with children.
Aug 30 8:55pm
Company involved in anti-PrideFest protest is dropped from law enforcement event. - Newest Democrat in the legislature talks about "forceful cultural revolution." - We learn what brought Donald Trump together with a CU- Boulder visiting scholar, a fateful decision that led both to get indicted. - License plate stats.
Aug 24 1:17pm
A person came into contact with the bat and has started rabies treatment to prevent infection and illness, Arapahoe County Public Health said.
Aug 24 1:17pm
A person came into contact with the bat and has started rabies treatment to prevent infection and illness, Arapahoe County Public Health said.
Aug 23 2:20pm
Alexander Kenoyer pleaded guilty in June to one count of attempt to influence a public servant and one count of public indecency, according to court documents.
Aug 21 5:49pm
When organizers arrived at George Washington High on Sunday for the second day of festivities, DPS told them they would have to cancel the rest of the event.
Aug 18 7:19am
Msichana was well-known to zoo guests as a social ambassador with her signature tongue-out appearance.
Aug 17 7:19pm
Many on the island lost everything and are still trying to figure out what to do next. That includes Megan Hedley, a Coloradan who moved to Lahaina two years ago.
Aug 12 12:50pm
North Metro Fire said two people were medically evaluated and cleared on scene and one person was taken to the hospital with injuries that are not life-threatening.
Aug 12 12:50pm
North Metro Fire said two people were medically evaluated and cleared on scene and one person was taken to the hospital with injuries that are not life-threatening.
Aug 10 8:33pm
The war on pickleball continues in Glendale, where city council is considering a new rule that would force pickle ballers onto courts of their own.
Aug 10 2:47pm
The victim was shot Thursday morning in an area just north of Cherry Creek Reservoir, according to police.
Aug 9 10:12pm
The Governor suggests some parents who want universal pre-K are just looking for free childcare. - Denver quickly revises list of proposed tiny home village sites.
Aug 8 9:18pm
School districts canceling bus routes with a lack of bus drivers. - We continue our reporting on the war on pickleball. - College sports programs are chasing money.
Aug 7 3:52pm
A last minute move has thousands of families scrambling before the start of the school year. - Coloradan looking for a place to live after homeless sweep.
Aug 4 3:00pm
Police said the driver of the other vehicle stayed at the scene and is cooperating with investigators.
Aug 1 9:53pm
Trump co-conspirator from indictment just got a new job in Colorado, aiming to change elections here. - State pulls universal pre-K funding from some families.
Jun 16 2:19pm
The United States would like a face-to-face meeting with Iran to discuss prisoner releases and it wants the U.N. Security Council to impose an indefinite arms embargo on the Islamic Republic, a senior U.S. diplomat said on Tuesday.
Jun 16 12:55pm
Turkey angrily accused France on Tuesday of exacerbating the crisis in Libya and violating U.N. and NATO decisions by supporting the forces of Khalifa Haftar against the internationally recognised Government of National Accord (GNA).
Slashdot Sep 27 10:40am
A company that acquires and sells zero-day exploits -- flaws in software that are unknown to the affected developer -- is now offering to pay researchers $20 million for hacking tools that would allow its customers to hack iPhones and Android devices. From a report: On Wednesday, Operation Zero announced on its Telegram accounts and on its official account on X, formerly Twitter, that it was increasing payments for zero-days in those platforms tenfold, from $200,000 to $20 million. "By increasing the premium and providing competitive plans and bonuses for contract works, we encourage the developer teams to work with our platform," the company wrote. Operation Zero, which is based in Russia and launched in 2021, also added that "as always, the end user is a non-NATO country." On its official website, the company says that "our clients are Russian private and government organizations only." When asked why they only sell to non-NATO countries, Operation Zero CEO Sergey Zelenyuk declined to say. "No reasons other than obvious ones," he said. Zelenyuk also said that the bounties Operation Zero offer right now may be temporary, and a reflection of a particular time in the market, and the difficulty of hacking iOS and Android.

Sep 26 1:25pm
OpenAI is talking to investors about a possible share sale that would value the artificial-intelligence startup behind ChatGPT at between $80 billion to $90 billion, almost triple its level earlier this year, WSJ reported Tuesday, citing people familiar with the discussions. From the report: The startup, which is 49% owned by Microsoft, has told investors that it expects to reach $1 billion in revenue this year and generate many billions more in 2024. OpenAI generates revenue mainly by charging individuals for access to a powerful version of ChatGPT and licensing the large language models behind that AI bot to businesses.

Sep 25 4:57pm
The United States Space Force reportedly discussed setting up a hotline with China to prevent crises in space, according to Reuters, citing U.S. commander General Chance Saltzman. From the report: The chief of space operations said a direct line of communication between the Space Force and its Chinese counterpart would be valuable in de-escalating tensions but that the U.S. had not yet engaged with China to establish one. "What we have talked about on the U.S. side at least is opening up a line of communication to make sure that if there is a crisis, we know who we can contact," Saltzman said, adding that it would be up to President Joe Biden and the State Department to take the lead on such discussions. The U.S. Space Force, founded in 2019, also does not have a direct line of communication with its Russian counterpart.

Sep 25 12:40pm
Web3 is Going Great reports: After the Hong Kong-based JPEX exchange limited withdrawals amidst what appeared to be an impending collapse of the platform, things are now looking a lot more like fraud. Police have received more than 2,200 complaints pertaining to the exchange, involving $178 million in possible losses. Eleven people, including various crypto influencers who had promoted the exchange, were taken in for questioning. However, police have said those eleven people were not likely central to the fraud, and that the leaders of the JPEX project are on the run.

Sep 25 11:20am
Reddit announced a contributor program on Monday, which awards users actual, real money for their fake internet points. From a report: Now, eligible users will be able to convert their Reddit gold and karma into fiat currency (no, not crypto), which is dispersed once per month. So far, the Reddit contributor program is limited to users in the United States (to start, at least) who are over the age of 18 and can verify their identity via Persona and Stripe. Accounts must have existed for over 30 days, and only safe for work posts can be monetized.

Sep 25 10:00am
An anonymous reader shares a report: Following the launch of the iPhone 15 series today, a few readers of our website have reached out to highlight that the devices support USB-C to Ethernet adapters, allowing for a wired internet connection with faster download speeds than Wi-Fi. Apple confirmed this information in a support document last week, with USB to Ethernet adapters listed as compatible with iPhone 15 models. When an iPhone is connected to an Ethernet cable, an otherwise hidden Ethernet menu appears in the Settings app with IP-related information and various configuration options.

Sep 22 8:00am
Amazon, following other streaming platforms looking to further monetize their content, will run ads on its Prime Video service in key markets -- a move that will help offset rising costs and provide a boost to an already robust advertising business. From a report: Ad-supported streaming will be the default on Prime Video in US, UK, Germany and Canada starting early next year, the company said in a statement on Friday. The company has long offered video streaming as part of a package that also includes speedy shipping, music and other perks. Amazon said Prime subsribers will continue to pay $139 annually in the US but will be able to pay an additional $2.99 a month to avoid ads. Pricing in other countries will be anounced later, the company said.

Sep 20 2:00pm
OpenAI is offering an early look at DALL-E 3, the next version of its image generation tool. From a report: The update allows DALL-E 3 to be summoned and controlled using ChatGPT and aims to produce higher-quality images that more faithfully reflect queries. OpenAI says that DALL-E 3 is significantly better at understanding the intent of prompts, particularly longer ones, compared to DALL-E 2, which debuted in April 2022. OpenAI says DALL-E 3 also does better -- but not perfectly -- in areas that have tripped up image generators, such as text and hands. The ChatGPT integration will allow people to hone their request through conversations with the chatbot and receive the result directly within the chat app. OpenAI plans to make DALL-E 3 available to ChatGPT+ and enterprise customers in October DALL-E 3 will also be available sometime this fall in its public labs and for API customers.

Sep 20 10:00am
A trade group for U.S. authors has sued OpenAI in Manhattan federal court on behalf of prominent writers including John Grisham, Jonathan Franzen, George Saunders, Jodi Picault and "Game of Thrones" novelist George R.R. Martin, accusing the company of unlawfully training its popular artificial-intelligence based chatbot ChatGPT on their work. From a report: The proposed class-action lawsuit filed late on Tuesday by the Authors Guild joins several others from writers, source-code owners and visual artists against generative AI providers. In addition to Microsoft-backed OpenAI, similar lawsuits are pending against Meta Platforms and Stability AI over the data used to train their AI systems. Other authors involved in the latest lawsuit include "The Lincoln Lawyer" writer Michael Connelly and lawyer-novelists David Baldacci and Scott Turow.

Sep 19 9:30pm
An anonymous reader quotes a report from Phys.Org: A new study shows the isolation and sequencing of more than a century-old RNA molecules from a Tasmanian tiger specimen preserved at room temperature in a museum collection. This resulted in the reconstruction of skin and skeletal muscle transcriptomes from an extinct species for the first time. The researchers note that their findings have relevant implications for international efforts to resurrect extinct species, including both the Tasmanian tiger and the wooly mammoth, as well as for studying pandemic RNA viruses. The findings have been published in the journal Genome Research.

Sep 19 10:00am
European governments have "systematically" shrunk their railways and starved them of funding while pouring money into expanding their road network, a report has found. The Guardian: The length of motorways in Europe grew 60% between 1995 and 2020 while railways shrank 6.5%, according to research from the German thinktanks Wuppertal Institute and T3 Transportation. For every $1 governments spent building railways, they spent $1.7 building roads. "This is a political choice," said Lorelei Limousin, a climate campaigner with Greenpeace, which commissioned the report. "We see the consequences today with the climate, but also with people who have been left without an alternative solution to cars." The report found the EU, Norway, Switzerland and the UK spent $1.6tn between 1995 and 2018 to extend their roads -- but just $0.99tn to extend their rail networks. In the four years that followed (2018-21), the average gap in investment in rail and road decreased from 66% to 34%. During that time, seven countries invested more in rail than roads -- Austria, Belgium, Denmark, France, Italy, Luxembourg and the UK -- while the rest spent more on roads than rail.

Sep 18 1:20pm
Windows blog: Today we are beginning to roll out an update for the Paint app to Windows Insiders in the Canary and Dev Channels (version 11.2308.18.0 or higher). With this update, we are introducing support for layers and transparency! You can now add, remove, and manage layers on the canvas to create richer and more complex digital art. With layers, you can stack shapes, text, and other image elements on top of each other. To get started, click on the new Layers button in the toolbar, which will open a panel on the side of the canvas. This is where you can add new layers to the canvas. Try changing the order of layers in this panel to see how the order of stacked image elements on the canvas changes. You can also show or hide and duplicate individual layers or merge layers together. We are adding support for transparency as well, including the ability to open and save transparent PNGs! When working with a single layer, you will notice a checkerboard pattern on the canvas indicating the portions of the image that are transparent. Erasing any content from the canvas now truly erases the content instead of painting the area white. When working with multiple layers, if you erase content on one layer, you will reveal the content in layers underneath.

Sep 14 10:28am
Unity canceled a planned town hall and closed two offices Thursday after receiving what it said was a credible death threat in the wake of a controversial pricing decision earlier this week, Bloomberg News reported Thursday, citing people familiar with the matter. From the report: Unity, the maker of tools and technology for video games, set off a firestorm on Sept. 12 by announcing it will begin charging developers a new fee for games made using its software, called the Unity Engine. Beginning Jan. 1, makers of Unity games will have to pay per user installation after a certain threshold is reached. Some video-game makers accused Unity of violating its own terms of service and lamented that the new charges could threaten their livelihoods. Many game studios put out harshly worded statements urging the technology company to reconsider.

Sep 13 10:00am
Criminal gangs behind a rise in bombings and shootings in Sweden in recent years are using fake Spotify streams to launder money, a Swedish newspaper reported earlier this month. From a report: Criminal networks have for several years been using money from drug deals, robberies, fraud and contract killings to pay for false Spotify streams of songs published by artists with ties to the gangs, an investigative report in Svenska Dagbladet claimed. They then get paid by the platform for the high number of streams, thereby laundering the money. The newspaper said its information had been confirmed by four gang members from separate criminal networks in Stockholm, as well as an anonymous police investigator.

Sep 12 10:00pm
An anonymous reader shares a report: The US accounts for more than a third of the expansion of global oil and gas production planned by mid-century, despite its claims of climate leadership, research has found. Canada and Russia have the next biggest expansion plans, calculated based on how much carbon dioxide is likely to be produced from new developments, followed by Iran, China and Brazil. The United Arab Emirates, which is to host the annual UN climate summit this year, Cop28 in Dubai in November, is seventh on the list. The data, in a report from the campaign group Oil Change International, also showed that five "global north countries" -- the US, Canada, Australia, Norway and the UK -- will be responsible for just over half of all the planned expansion from new oil and gas fields to 2050. Greenhouse gas emissions from all of the oil and gas expansion that is planned in the next three decades would be more than enough to drive global temperatures well beyond the limit of 1.5C above pre-industrial levels that countries agreed in 2021 at Cop26 in Glasgow, the report found.

Sep 12 1:00pm
Inditex is racing to iron bugs out of a new anti-shoplifting system for its Zara stores, slightly delaying its rollout partly because the security tags were easy to identify and remove in initial tests, Bloomberg reported Tuesday, citing people familiar with the matter. From the report: Chief Executive Officer Oscar Garcia Maceiras unveiled the new technology in March and pledged to roll it out for tests in all Zara stores worldwide over the summer. The system relies on tiny chips known as RFID, doing away with the hard plastic tags on garments that require checkout clerks to remove them. The new technology has run into teething issues. Staff in several countries have raised concerns to management that the technology may actually make theft easier, according to the people, who asked not to be identified.

Sep 12 8:00am
Intel has unveiled Thunderbolt 5, the latest iteration of its a standard aimed at enabling super-fast connectivity. From a report: With Thunderbolt 5, Intel promises a significant leap in connectivity speed and bandwidth, delivering enhanced performance for computer users. The unveiling of a prototype laptop and dock accompanied the announcement, providing a glimpse into the future of Thunderbolt technology. Thunderbolt 5 will offer an impressive 80 gigabits per second (Gbps) of bi-directional bandwidth, enabling lightning-fast data transfer and connectivity. Additionally, with the introduction of Bandwidth Boost, Thunderbolt 5 will reach up to 120 Gbps, ensuring an unparalleled display experience for users. These advancements represent two to three times more bandwidth than Thunderbolt 4. And it can deliver up to 240 watts of power.

Sep 11 11:00am
Microsoft is done supporting the original Surface Duo, three years after it first launched on September 10. From a report: The company has stated from the very start that the Surface Duo would receive just three years of OS updates, meaning today is the last day that Microsoft has to stay true to its word. Going forward, Microsoft will no longer ship new OS updates or security patches for the original Surface Duo, meaning Android 12L is the last version of the OS it will ever officially receive. Surface Duo only ever got two major OS updates, one shy of the average three that most high-end flagship Android devices get these days.

Sep 10 4:11pm
Slashdot reader quonset writes: Roblox Corporation was to have its award ceremony for developers on Saturday when it cancelled the event at the last moment. According to reports, a game developer was reportedly arrested on gun charges outside the event. More from MarketWatch: Citing jail records, the San Francisco Chronicle reported Sunday that a man identified as game developer Mikhail Olson, known by the nickname Simbuilder, was arrested by U.S. Park Police on suspicion of having a concealed firearm in his vehicle, along with armor-piercing ammunition and a large-capacity magazine. The awards ceremony was held at Fort Mason Center, which is on federal property. According to the Chronicle, the suspect was arrested Saturday afternoon after allegedly assaulting U.S. Park Police officers who had been called over a report of a disturbance outside the Roblox conference.

Sep 10 9:34am
An anonymous reader shared this report from InfoWorld: The uses of WebAssembly, aka Wasm, have grown far beyond its initial target of web applications, according to The State of WebAssembly 2023 report. But some developers remain skeptical. Released September 6 by the Cloud Native Computing Foundation (CNCF) and SlashData, in collaboration with the Linux Foundation, the report finds mostly optimism among software developers about future adoption of Wasm for web and non-web environments... However, about 22% of participants in the report indicated pessimism about Wasm adoption for either the web or non-web environments. Further, 83% of the respondents reported challenges with Wasm including difficulties with debugging and troubleshooting, different performance between runtimes, lack of consistent developer experiences between runtimes, lack of learning materials, and compatibility issues with certain browsers. The report finds that respondents are using WebAssembly across a wide range of software projects including data visualization (35%), internet of things (32%, artificial intelligence (30%), games (28%), back-end services (27%), edge computing (25%), and more. While Wasm is still primarily used to develop web applications (58%), this is changing thanks to WASI (WebAssembly System Interface), which provides a modular interface for Wasm... Other findings of the State of WebAssembly 2023 report: - When migrating existing applications to Wasm, 30% of respondents experience performance benefits of more than 50%. - JavaScript is the most popular language used with Wasm applications. But Rust stands out in popularity in Wasm projects compared to other use cases... The article says WebAssembly developers were attracted by "faster loading times, the ability to explore new use cases and technologies, and the ability to share code between projects. Improved performance over JavaScript and efficient execution of computationally intensive tasks also were cited."

Sep 9 7:56pm
Late Friday a Burning Man press release claimed that "zero stuck or abandoned vehicles remain on site or on the exit road, as people have returned with friends and tow trucks to retrieve them." But the Reno Gazette-Journal reports that as of 5 p.m. Friday, "at least a half-dozen vehicles were still scattered across miles of the Black Rock National Conservation Area, public land Burning Man leases from the Bureau of Land Management. Their drivers appeared to have made a run for the exit and got stuck in mud out on the playa. One burned-out RV that caught fire in the exit queue was still on site." The press release from the Burning Man project claimed their entire community of attendees, sometimes called "Black Rock City," had now "disappeared, leaving no trace." But the Reno Gazette-Journal says... Entire abandoned camps were still in what had been Black Rock City, the temporary encampment that draws more than 70,000 burners each year. Tents, garbage bags, rugs, boxes, boots stuck in mud, a barbecue grill, cans of oil and even a wig were seen on Friday. Pershing County Sheriff Jerry Allen estimated there were still up to 10,000 people on site Thursday but a steady stream of RVS and cars continued to leave the playa... Burning Man did not return request for comment... "I am concerned about this year and the amount of stuff being left out," Allen told the Reno Gazette-Journal on Friday. "Dispatch has told me that in the last two days a lot of (car and truck) rental agencies and motor home businesses are looking for their vehicles still out there... On Friday, the site was busy with campers who were cleaning up sites. Some abandoned camps sites had signs that said they would return. One sign said, "We will come back Thur. Fri. Sat. to clean up. Too many sick people." The newspaper points out that event volunteers traditionally spend three weeks after the event doing a major clean-up effort. "The restoration crews they have doing that do an outstanding job," a public affairs specialist for the Bureau of Land Management told the newspaper.

Sep 8 2:41pm
The days of signing on the dotted line may be numbered -- at least in Australia. From a report: The federal government has announced it is taking statutory declarations into the digital age, saying it will accept electronic signatures and video link witnessing from next year. It makes permanent a change introduced during the pandemic, when attending a justice of the peace (JP) for a statutory declaration -- a practice that goes back to the 19th century -- was forbidden under lockdown restrictions. Legislation introduced this week by the federal attorney general, Mark Dreyfus, will also allow people to digitally execute a statutory declaration using the online platform myGov and the myGovID Digital ID. Dreyfus says the bill is intended to keep with the changing ways of Australians. "This bill will respond to how Australians want and expect to engage and communicate digitally with government by providing options to make commonwealth statutory declarations facilitated by technology," he says. "This bill is an important milestone in driving the digitisation of government services."

Sep 8 1:00am
Scientists have grown humanized kidneys in pigs, raising the prospect of human organs being grown inside animals. The Guardian reports: The research involved creating human-pig chimeric embryos containing a combination of human and pig cells. When transferred into surrogate pig mothers, the developing embryos were shown to have kidneys that contained mostly human cells, marking the first time that scientists have grown a solid humanized organ inside another animal. The kidneys were not entirely human as they included vasculature and nerves made mostly from pig cells, meaning they could not be used for transplantation in their current form. It is not clear whether the challenge of making a wholly human organ would be achievable with current genetic engineering techniques. Aside from the kidneys, the embryos were dominated by pig cells, with very few human cells in the brain or central nervous system. The potential for a humanized brain is a serious ethical concern for research involving hybrid embryos and one of the reasons for tight legal restrictions on research in many countries. [...] After being cultivated in the lab, the chimeric embryos were transferred to 13 surrogate sows. After either 25 or 28 days, the gestation was terminated and embryos were extracted and assessed. The embryos had structurally normal kidneys for their stage of development, showing the tubules that would eventually connect the kidney to the bladder, and were composed of 50-60% human cells. Very human neural cells were found in the brain and spinal cord. The research has been published in the journal Cell Stem Cell.

Sep 7 1:40pm
The U.S. Senate today approved a nominee to fill the vacant, fifth seat on the Federal Communications Commission (FCC). The Senate voted 55 to 43 to approve Anna Gomez as the fifth FCC Commissioner. Her term will be for five years from July 1, 2021, so effectively about three years. From a report: Gomez most recently has served as a senior advisor on communications policy at the Bureau of Cyberspace and Digital Policy. She was also deputy administrator at the National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) from 2009 to 2013. The NTIA is not only important as the advisor to the President on national spectrum policy, but the agency is also currently overseeing the Broadband Equity, Access and Deployment (BEAD) program.

Sep 7 9:45am
BMW has made a U-turn on a controversial subscription service that saw drivers pay a fee to activate the heated seats already fitted to their car. From a report: First announced in 2020, the subscription was intended to be one of many ways to offer flexibility to customers, who could opt in to pay for vehicle functions when it suited them, then stop paying when they were no longer wanted. But instead of options like increased electric car performance -- as was later offered by Mercedes -- or other technology-driven functions like autonomous parking or a 5G data connection, BMW drew criticism for charging a subscription for heated seats already installed at the factory. Now though, BMW will no longer offer such a service.

Sep 6 1:00am
The British Conservative government has eased planning rules and lifted restrictions that had effectively prohibited the construction of new onshore wind farms in England. The Independent reports: Rules introduced in 2015 by then-Prime Minister David Cameron, who also led a Conservative administration, allowed a single objection to a wind turbine application to block its development. The regulations led to a dramatic decline in the number of new turbines granted planning permission. Some Conservatives pressured the current government to overturn the rules. Lawmaker Alok Sharma, who was president of the 2021 U.N. climate change conference and led the lobbying campaign, called them "outdated" and "not a sensible way for a planning system to operate." Authorities said Tuesday that the eased restrictions mean that onshore wind projects supported by local residents will get approved more quickly. They said elected local officials will have the ability to make final decisions based on the prevailing view of their communities, not just a small number of objectors. Communities that back wind turbines in their areas will also benefit from cheaper electricity, officials said, adding that the way such energy discounts work would be considered later.

Sep 5 2:40pm
Apple will acquire the major Swedish classical music record label BIS Records, intending to fold it into Apple Music Classical and Platoon. MacRumors reports: BIS Records was founded in 1973 by Robert von Bahr. The label focuses on a range of classical music, with particular focus on works that are not well represented by existing recordings. It is an award-winning name in the world of classical music, acclaimed for its vast catalog and impressive audio quality. The label celebrates its 50th anniversary this week. The company announced its impending acquisition by Apple earlier today. BIS is set to become a part of Apple Music Classical and the Apple-owned label Platoon. Apple acquired Platoon, a London-based A&R startup focused on discovering rising music artists, in 2018. In 2021, Apple announced that it had purchased the classical music streaming service Primephonic and would be folding it into Apple Music via a new app dedicated to the genre. Apple released the Apple Music Classical app in March. The app offers a simpler interface for interacting with classical music specifically. Unlike the main Apple Music app, Apple Music Classical allows users to search by composer, work, conductor, catalog number, and more. Users can get more detailed information from editorial notes and descriptions.

Sep 5 10:00am
Microsoft will finally stop forcing Windows 11 users in Europe into Edge if they click a link from the Windows Widgets panel or from search results. From a report: The software giant has started testing the changes to Windows 11 in recent test builds of the operating system, but the changes are restricted to countries within the European Economic Area (EEA). "In the European Economic Area (EEA), Windows system components use the default browser to open links," reads a change note from a Windows 11 test build released to Dev Channel testers last month. Microsoft has been ignoring default browser choices in its search experience in Windows 10 and the taskbar widget that forces users into Edge if they click a link instead of their default browser. Windows 11 continued this trend, with search still forcing users into Edge and a new dedicated widgets area that also ignores the default browser setting.

Sep 5 6:00am
An anonymous reader shares a report: China is set to launch a new state-backed investment fund that aims to raise about $40 billion for its semiconductor sector, two people familiar with the matter said, as the country ramps up efforts to catch up with the U.S. and other rivals. It is likely to be the biggest of three funds launched by the China Integrated Circuit Industry Investment Fund, also known as the Big Fund. Its target of 300 billion yuan ($41 billion) outdoes similar funds in 2014 and 2019, which according to government reports, raised 138.7 billion yuan and 200 billion yuan respectively. One main area of investment will be equipment for chip manufacturing, said one of the two people and a third person familiar with the matter. President Xi Jinping has long stressed the need for China to achieve self-sufficiency in semiconductors.

Sep 4 1:00pm
belmolis writes: Canadian prisons allow prisoners to buy devices such as personal computers and gaming consoles but severely restrict the technology, nominally on security grounds. Modern gaming consoles are forbidden on the grounds that they can connect to the internet, so the typical purchase is a Playstation 1. No version of Microsoft Windows more recent than Windows 98 is allowed. No device that can play MP3 files is allowed. The regulations forbid operating systems other than Microsoft DOS or Windows and any software capable of creating a program, such as a compiler as are "database programs capable of altering or manipulating SQL databases". Although learning job skills is encouraged, programming is evidently not considered appropriate. The relationship of most of these restrictions to security is obscure.

Sep 4 12:02pm
Microsoft has announced billing in public preview for Teams recording and transcription APIs, with pricing starting at 3 cents per minute for recordings. From a report: Getting meeting transcripts and recordings using Graph APIs is currently in public developer preview, so the billing, which started on September 1, might irk coders keen to use these features in their applications. The API for recording is billed at $0.03 per minute, and the API for transcription is $0.024 per minute. Microsoft cited line-of-business applications or ISV solutions in sales or HR as potential use cases for the technology, which permits recordings as an MP4 video file or transcripts as VTT files to be downloaded. VTT includes handy information such as the spoken words, timings, language, and the names of the speakers. A developer could automatically generate notes and attach meeting clips using one or both content API sets. Other information, such as sentiment and engagement metrics, could also be generated.

Sep 1 12:40pm
Spotify is cracking down on white-noise podcasters, reducing the advertising support for programmers that provide little more than soothing sounds like rain or chirping birds. From a report: In an email to creators Friday, the company highlighted changes to its Ambassador Ads program -- promotional spots for Spotify that podcasters read. The company pays hosts to read ads to encourage more creators to make shows and join the platform. As part of the change taking effect Oct. 1, white noise podcasters will no longer be eligible for such support, according to a person with knowledge of the matter. The company is also raising the audience threshold that conventional podcasters must meet to qualify for those ads to 1,000 unique Spotify listeners over the past 60 days from 100.

Sep 1 12:01pm
The theft of IT equipment and data, as well as digital and industrial espionage and sabotage, will cost Germany 206 billion euros ($224 billion) in 2023, German digital association Bitkom said on Friday. From a report: The damage will surpass the 200 billion euro mark for the third consecutive year, according to a Bitkom survey of more than 1,000 companies. "The German economy is a highly attractive target for criminals and hostile states. The boundaries between organised crime and state-controlled actors are blurred," Bitkom President Ralf Wintergerst said. Around three quarters of the companies surveyed suffered digital attacks in the past 12 months, falling from 84% of the companies in the previous year.

Sep 1 11:25am
Hundreds of people who participated in a recent Tough Mudder event -- a very muddy obstacle course race -- held in Sonoma, California, have fallen ill with pustular rashes, lesions, fever, flu-like symptoms, nerve pain, and other symptoms, local health officials and media outlets report. From a report: The cases could be caused by various infectious agents, including Staphylococcus bacteria, but the leading culprit is the relatively obscure Aeromonas bacteria -- specifically A. hydrophila, according to the Sonoma County health department. In a statewide alert this week, the California Department of Public Health said it is considering it an Aeromonas outbreak, noting that multiple wound cultures have yielded the hardy bacterium. A spokesperson for the Sonoma County health department told the Los Angeles Times on Thursday that, based on calls and emails the department had received, health officials estimate that the outbreak involves around 300 cases. Tough Mudder participants, meanwhile, have tallied as many as 489 cases in online forums. The Tough Mudder event was held at the Sonoma Raceway on August 19 and 20, 2023, with symptoms of infection developing in cases within 12 to 48 hours afterward. The Sonoma County health department advisory noted that the race "involved extensive skin exposure to mud" and that participants with a rash, fever, or other symptoms should go to their health care provider or, if no provider is available, to a local emergency department.

Aug 31 2:01pm
The US Copyright Office is opening a public comment period around AI and copyright issues beginning August 30th as the agency figures out how to approach the subject. From a report: As announced [PDF] in the Federal Register, the agency wants to answer three main questions: how AI models should use copyrighted data in training; whether AI-generated material can be copyrighted even without a human involved; and how copyright liability would work with AI. It also wants comments around AI possibly violating publicity rights but noted these are not technically copyright issues. The Copyright Office said if AI does mimic voices, likenesses, or art styles, it may impact state-mandated rules around publicity and unfair competition laws. Written comments are due on October 18th, and replies must be submitted to the Copyright Office by November 15th. The copyright status of AI training data and the output of generative AI tools has become a hot topic for politicians, artists, authors, and even civil rights groups, making it a potential testing ground for coming AI regulation. The Copyright Office says that "over the past several years, the Office has begun to receive applications to register works containing AI-generated material." It may use the comments to inform how it decides to grant copyright in the future. The Copyright Office was involved in a lawsuit last year after it refused to grant Stephen Thaler rights to an image created by an AI platform. Earlier this month, a Washington, DC, court sided with the US Copyright Office in the case, stating copyright has never been handed to any work without a human involved.

Aug 31 12:01pm
Researchers say they have found fake apps in Google Play that masqueraded as legitimate ones for the Signal and Telegram messaging platforms. The malicious apps could pull messages or other sensitive information from legitimate accounts when users took certain actions. ArsTechnica: An app with the name Signal Plus Messenger was available on Play for nine months and had been downloaded from Play roughly 100 times before Google took it down last April after being tipped off by security firm ESET. It was also available in the Samsung app store and on signalplus[.]org, a dedicated website mimicking the official Signal.org. An app calling itself FlyGram, meanwhile, was created by the same threat actor and was available through the same three channels. Google removed it from Play in 2021. Both apps remain available in the Samsung store. Both apps were built on open source code available from Signal and Telegram. Interwoven into that code was an espionage tool tracked as BadBazaar. The Trojan has been linked to a China-aligned hacking group tracked as GREF. BadBazaar has been used previously to target Uyghurs and other Turkic ethnic minorities. The FlyGram malware was also shared in a Uyghur Telegram group, further aligning it to previous targeting by the BadBazaar malware family. Signal Plus could monitor sent and received messages and contacts if people connected their infected device to their legitimate Signal number, as is normal when someone first installs Signal on their device. Doing so caused the malicious app to send a host of private information to the attacker, including the device IMEI number, phone number, MAC address, operator details, location data, Wi-Fi information, emails for Google accounts, contact list, and a PIN used to transfer texts in the event one was set up by the user.

Aug 31 10:07am
A U.S. Department of Commerce spokesperson on Thursday said the Biden administration "has not blocked chip sales to the Middle East." From a report: The comments come after artificial intelligence chip firms Nvidia and Advanced Micro Devices received notifications from U.S. officials about new export licensing requirements to ship chips to some countries in the Middle East.

Aug 30 2:41pm
Hundreds of thousands of people are being forcibly engaged by organised criminal gangs into online criminality in Southeast Asia - from romance-investment scams and crypto fraud to illegal gambling - a report issued today by the UN Human Rights Office shows. From a report: Victims face a range of serious violations and abuses, including threats to their safety and security; and many have been subjected to torture and cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment or punishment, arbitrary detention, sexual violence, forced labour, and other human rights abuses, the report says. "People who are coerced into working in these scamming operations endure inhumane treatment while being forced to carry out crimes. They are victims. They are not criminals," said UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Turk. "In continuing to call for justice for those who have been defrauded through online criminality, we must not forget that this complex phenomenon has two sets of victims." The enormity of online scam trafficking in Southeast Asia is difficult to estimate, the reports says, because of the clandestine nature and gaps in the official response. Credible sources indicate that at least 120,000 people across Myanmar may be held in situations where they are forced to carry out online scams, with estimates in Cambodia similarly at around 100,000. Other States in the region, including Lao PDR, the Philippines and Thailand, have also been identified as main countries of destination or transit where at least tens of thousands of people have been involved. The scam centres generate revenue amounting to billions of US dollars each year.

Aug 30 8:07am
An anonymous reader shares a report: Google is discontinuing its Pixel Pass subscription service that allowed people to get a Pixel phone combined with premium services including YouTube Premium, Google Play Pass, and YouTube Premium for a monthly fee. The company said on its support page that it will stop offering purchases or renewals for the Pixel Pass.

Aug 28 2:40pm
Chess.com and Hans Niemann have reached a settlement in which Niemann has agreed to drop a $100 million lawsuit against Chess.com and Magnus Carlsen, and will be allowed to return to compete, the company announced Monday. From a report: This puts an end to the legal aspect of a cheating scandal that captivated the chess world for nearly a year. As part of the settlement, chess world champion Carlsen said "there is no determinative evidence that Niemann cheated in his game against me at the Sinquefield Cup. I am willing to play Niemann in future events, should we be paired together."

Aug 28 10:40am
The number of titles on streaming services jumped 39% over the past two years to 2.35 million, according to a report released Monday by market researcher Nielsen. From a report: Add in traditional broadcast and cable channels and the number of individual viewing options climbed to 2.7 million. The figures reflect movies and shows available in the US, Canada, the UK, Mexico and Germany. Netflix and Disney+ are among 167 streaming providers, up from 118 two years ago. The average time it takes someone to find something to watch has risen to more than 10 minutes from a little over seven minutes in 2019, Nielsen said.

Aug 26 1:00am
SpaceX says it successfully test-fired the booster for its next Starship launch, although that liftoff may still be weeks away. SpaceNews reports: SpaceX fired the Raptor engines in the Super Heavy booster designated Booster 9 in a static-fire test at its Starbase test site in Boca Chica, Texas, at approximately 1:35 p.m. Eastern Aug. 25. SpaceX said it conducted a "full duration" firing, which appeared to last about five to six seconds. SpaceX later stated that all 33 engines successfully ignited, although two shut down prematurely. "Congratulations to the SpaceX team on this exciting milestone!" The company did not state if that performance was sufficient for it to proceed with a launch attempt, but it was better than an earlier test of the same booster Aug. 6. That test ended early, after the engines fired for less than three seconds, with four of the Raptors shutting down prematurely. If SpaceX is satisfied with the outcome of the test, it is likely one of the final technical milestones before it is ready for a second integrated Starship/Super Heavy launch. The first, April 20, failed four minutes after liftoff when several Raptor engines in the Super Heavy booster shut down and vehicle later lost control and tumbled.

Aug 25 8:02pm
echo123 shares a report from SciTechDaily: Researchers have discovered that graphene naturally allows proton transport, especially around its nanoscale wrinkles. This finding could revolutionize the hydrogen economy by offering sustainable alternatives to existing catalysts and membranes. [...] In a recent publication in the journal Nature, a joint effort between the University of Warwick, spearheaded by Prof. Patrick Unwin, and The University of Manchester, led by Dr. Marcelo Lozada-Hidalgo and Prof. Andre Geim, presented their findings on this matter. Using ultra-high spatial resolution measurements, they conclusively demonstrated that perfect graphene crystals indeed allow proton transport. In a surprising twist, they also found that protons are strongly accelerated around nanoscale wrinkles and ripples present in the graphene crystal. This groundbreaking revelation carries immense significance for the hydrogen economy. The current mechanisms for generating and using hydrogen often rely on costly catalysts and membranes, some of which have notable environmental impacts. Replacing these with sustainable 2D crystals like graphene could play a pivotal role in advancing green hydrogen production, subsequently reducing carbon emissions and aiding the shift towards a Net Zero carbon environment. [...] The team is optimistic about how this discovery can pave the way for novel hydrogen technologies. Dr. Lozada-Hidalgo said, "Exploiting the catalytic activity of ripples and wrinkles in 2D crystals is a fundamentally new way to accelerate ion transport and chemical reactions. This could lead to the development of low-cost catalysts for hydrogen-related technologies."

Aug 25 3:20pm
Private equity firm Veritas Capital has made an offer to buy Canadian software company BlackBerry, Reuters reported Friday, citing a person familiar with the matter. From the report: BlackBerry had said in May it would conduct a review of strategic alternatives, which could includes the possible separation of one or more of its businesses. Founded in 1984, the company currently makes software for cars and cybersecurity. It became popular for its ubiquitous business smartphones, toted by executives, politicians and legions of fans in the early 2000s. It pulled the plug on its smartphones business last year and has since been trying to sell its legacy patents related to its mobile devices.

Aug 24 6:02pm
An anonymous reader quotes a report from Teslarati: Tesla has won permit approval for its Diner and Drive-In Movie Supercharger in Los Angeles, according to documents seen by Teslarati from the LA Department of Building and Safety. Tesla has been teasing the possibility for several years of a drive-in movie theater and diner Supercharger site that would host 32 stalls, two screens to show famous movie clips, and a restaurant with rooftop seating. Initially, it was planned to be built on a series of lots in Santa Monica. However, the location was moved East to Hollywood and will now be placed on located at 7001 W. Santa Monica Boulevard. As the project has been moving through the normal regulatory processes, Tesla has been receiving some approvals and requests for corrections on many of its filed applications to begin construction at the Diner/Supercharger.

Aug 23 2:50pm
Huawei is accused by a semiconductor manufacturers association of setting up secret chip-making facilities in China to evade U.S. sanctions. The Guardian reports: The Chinese tech firm moved into chip production last year and was receiving an estimated $30 billion in state funding from the government, the Washington-based Semiconductor Industry Association was quoted as saying by Bloomberg, adding that Huawei had acquired at least two existing plants and was building three others. If Huawei is constructing facilities under names of other companies, as the Semiconductor Industry Association alleges, then it may be able to circumvent U.S. government restrictions to indirectly purchase American chip-making equipment, according to Bloomberg.

Aug 23 11:24am
Two founders of Tornado Cash, the widely known Russian cryptocurrency mixer, have been charged with laundering more than $1 billion in criminal proceeds. From a report: In a newly unsealed indictment, Roman Storm and Roman Semenov have both been accused of sanctions violations and laundering money through Tornado Cash, including hundreds of millions of dollars for the Lazarus Group, a sanctioned North Korean state-backed hacking group. Charges in the indictment include conspiring to commit money laundering, conspiracy to commit sanctions violations and conspiracy to operate an unlicensed money transmitting business. Storm was arrested Wednesday in Washington state, according to a statement from the Justice Department, but Semenov, a Russian national, remains at large. The third co-founder, Alexey Pertsev, who is not mentioned in this action, faces trial in Amsterdam over his involvement with Tornado Cash. "Roman Storm and Roman Semenov allegedly operated Tornado Cash and knowingly facilitated this money laundering," said U.S. Attorney Damian Williams, adding, "While publicly claiming to offer a technically sophisticated privacy service, Storm and Semenov in fact knew that they were helping hackers and fraudsters conceal the fruits of their crimes."

Aug 22 12:41pm
Amazon has launched a new Fire TV Channels app, giving Fire TV customers access to over 400 free ad-supported TV (FAST) channels, including ABC News, CBS Sports, Fox Sports, MLB, Martha Stewart and more. From a report: Alongside the app launch, the company also announced new content providers, such as Variety, Rolling Stone, The Hollywood Reporter, Billboard, GameSpot, Looper and Funny or Die, among others. Amazon will continue adding more FAST channels over time, the company wrote in the press release. First introduced in May, Fire TV Channels are available on Fire TV-branded smart TVs and streaming devices. The new app offers a single destination for users to quickly access thousands of live and on-demand titles across sports, news, entertainment, cooking, gaming and more. Customers can find the Fire TV Channels app via the "Your Apps and Channels" section, the Free icon in the navigation bar or labeled content rows throughout the Fire TV user interface. They also can ask Alexa to "Play Fire TV Channels." No downloads are required to watch FAST channels on Fire TV.

Aug 21 8:00am
The UK government will spend $127m to try to win a toe-hold for the nation in the global race to produce computer chips used to power artificial intelligence. From a report: Taxpayer money will be used as part of a drive to build a national AI resource in Britain, similar to those under development in the US and elsewhere. It is understood that the funds will be used to order key components from major chipmakers Nvidia, AMD and Intel. But an official briefed on the plans told the Guardian that the $127m offered by the government is far too low relative to investment by peers in the EU, US and China. The official confirmed, in a move first reported by the Telegraph, which also revealed the investment, that the government is in advanced stages of an order of up to 5,000 graphics processing units (GPUs) from Nvidia. The company, which started out building processing capacity for computer games, has seen a sharp increase in its value as the AI race has heated up. Its chips can run language learning models such as ChatGPT.

Aug 17 1:20pm
Microsoft will close its Xbox 360 digital store next July, though anything purchased will still be accessible. From a report: On 29th July 2024, Xbox 360 users will no longer be able to purchase new games, DLC, or other entertainment content from either the console store or the web-based marketplace. In addition, the Microsoft Movies & TV app on the Xbox 360 will no longer function. Of course, the store will continue as normal until that date next July. After that time, any games purchased will still remain playable and deleted purchases can still be re-downloaded. Online multiplayer will also remain accessible for games already purchased (digitally or physically), as long as the publisher supports the servers. Further, users will still be able to play Xbox 360 games on Xbox One and Xbox Series X/S consoles via backward compatibility, and hundreds of games will remain available to purchase on those consoles.

Aug 17 10:40am
Debian blog: Over 30 years ago the late Ian Murdock wrote to the comp.os.linux.development newsgroup about the completion of a brand-new Linux release which he named "The Debian Linux Release." He built the release by hand, from scratch, so to speak. Ian laid out guidelines for how this new release would work, what approach the release would take regarding its size, manner of upgrades, installation procedures; and with great care of consideration for users without Internet connection. Unaware that he had sparked a movement in the fledgling F/OSS community, Ian worked on and continued to work on Debian. The release, now aided by volunteers from the newsgroup and around the world, grew and continues to grow as one of the largest and oldest FREE operating systems that still exist today. Debian at its core is comprised of Users, Contributors, Developers, and Sponsors, but most importantly, People. Ians drive and focus remains embedded in the core of Debian, it remains in all of our work, it remains in the minds and hands of the users of The Universal Operating System. The Debian Project is proud and happy to share our anniversary not exclusively unto ourselves, instead we share this moment with everyone, as we come together in celebration of a resounding community that works together, effects change, and continues to make a difference, not just in our work but around the world. Debian is present in cluster systems, datacenters, desktop computers, embedded systems, IoT devices, laptops, servers, it may possibly be powering the web server and device you are reading this article on, and it can also be found in Spacecraft.

Aug 14 1:20pm
PowerPoint dominates presentations, utilized everywhere from sermons to weddings. In 2010, Microsoft revealed it was on over a billion computers. Before PowerPoint, 35-millimeter film slides reigned for impactful CEO presentations. These "multi-image" shows needed producers, photographers, and a production team to execute. MIT Technology Review has a rundown of the corporate presentation history.

Aug 12 11:34am
An anonymous reader shared this report from the Wall Street Journal: U.S. spy agencies will share more intelligence with U.S. companies, nongovernmental organizations and academia under a new strategy released this week that acknowledges concerns over new threats, such as another pandemic and increasing cyberattacks. The National Intelligence Strategy, which sets broad goals for the sprawling U.S. intelligence community, says that spy agencies must reach beyond the traditional walls of secrecy and partner with outside groups to detect and deter supply-chain disruptions, infectious diseases and other growing transnational threats. The intelligence community "must rethink its approach to exchanging information and insights," the strategy says. The U.S. government in recent years has begun sharing vast amounts of cyber-threat intelligence with U.S. companies, utilities and others who are often the main targets of foreign hackers, as well as information on foreign-influence operations with social-media companies... The emphasis on greater intelligence sharing is part of a broader trend toward declassification that the Biden administration has pursued. "The new strategy is meant to guide 18 U.S. intelligence agencies with an annual budget of about $90 billion... "

Aug 10 4:00pm
Skydio today announced that it will be shutting down its consumer drone business. From a report: Beginning today, the firm will no longer be selling its Skydio 2+ Starter, Sports, Cinema or Pro kits, although it will continue to offer the Skydio 2+ Enterprise Kit to business customers. Skydio also promises to continue supporting those consumers who have already purchased a drone. That includes offering vehicle repairs and other support related to warranties. The company says it will also stock batteries, propellers and other accessories "for as long as we can." The company, which raised a $230 million Series E funding earlier this year, has raised over $550 million across all rounds, according to Crunchbase.

Aug 9 4:40pm
Disney is raising prices on almost all of its streaming offerings as it looks to accelerate profitability for the business. CNBC reports: Commercial-free Disney+ will cost $13.99 per month, a 27% increase, beginning Oct. 12. Disney+ with ads will remain $7.99 per month. Disney will also expand its ad-tier offering to select markets in Europe and in Canada beginning Nov. 1. Disney is increasing the price of Hulu without ads to $17.99 per month, a 20% price hike. Hulu with ads will also stay the same price, at $7.99 per month. The decision to price Disney+ nearly as high as commercial-free Netflix and Max, and charge even more for Hulu, signals Disney believes its content library can compete with both of those services. Disney is now betting consumers will pay more for its streaming services even as the Hollywood writers and actors strikes threaten its content pipeline in the coming months. For consumers who want both Disney+ and Hulu without commercials, they can pay $19.99 per month in a new "premium duo" offering -- a $12 per month savings. The Disney+ and Hulu bundle with ads will not change from its $9.99 per month price. Disney also increased the price of its bundle of Disney+ (no ads), Hulu (no ads) and ESPN+ (with ads) to $24.99 per month from $19.99 per month. The bundle of all three products with commercials will be $14.99 per month, an increase of $2 per month. Disney is also increasing the price of Hulu + Live TV with ads to $76.99 from $69.99 per month. The commercial-free Hulu + Live TV will jump to $89.99 per month from $82.99 per month.

Aug 9 2:41pm
Saudi Arabia has announced its plans to standardise charging ports for all electronic devices to USB-C connectors. From a report: The decision will be put into effect from January 1, 2025 (for all except portable computers or laptops). It was announced by the Saudi Standards, Metrology and Quality Organization and the Communications, Space and Technology Commission. The standardisation is set to happen in two stages. The first stage (from January 1, 2025) will cover mobile phones and other electronic devices such as headphones, keyboards, speakers, routers, etc. The second stage, (from April 1, 2026) will apply to laptops and portable computers. According to the authorities, the decision has been taken to improve user experience and reduce costs.

Aug 8 3:20pm
Amazon is the most successful manufacturer of Arm server chips, accounting for just over half of Arm-based server CPUs currently deployed, while some chipmakers are also now betting on Arm-based Windows PCs. From a report: This information comes from a report issued by Bernstein Research which estimates that nearly 10 percent of servers across the world contain Arm processors, and 40 percent of those are located in China, as we reported earlier. But that total is beaten by just one company -- Amazon -- which has slightly above 50 percent of all Arm server CPUs in the world deployed in its Amazon Web Services (AWS) datacenters, said the analyst. Amazon currently uses its own Graviton family of chips, designed by the Annapurna Labs division of Amazon Web Services and introduced to the world back in 2018, which are for its own internal use only. The latest iteration is the Graviton3E for high-performance computing applications, introduced towards the end of 2022. According to Bernstein, because these chips were optimized for the specific needs of AWS, the company is able to fit in more cores per socket or per rack and the chips consume less power, translating to lower spending on space and cooling.

Aug 8 2:00pm
Air pollution is helping to drive a rise in antibiotic resistance that poses a significant threat to human health worldwide, a global study suggests. From a report: The analysis, using data from more than 100 countries spanning nearly two decades, indicates that increased air pollution is linked with rising antibiotic resistance across every country and continent. It also suggests the link between the two has strengthened over time, with increases in air pollution levels coinciding with larger rises in antibiotic resistance. "Our analysis presents strong evidence that increasing levels of air pollution are associated with increased risk of antibiotic resistance," researchers from China and the UK wrote. "This analysis is the first to show how air pollution affects antibiotic resistance globally." Their findings are published in the Lancet Planetary Health journal. Antibiotic resistance is one of the fastest-growing threats to global health. It can affect people of any age in any country and is already killing 1.3 million people a year, according to estimates. The main drivers are still the misuse and overuse of antibiotics, which are used to treat infections. But the study suggests the problem is being worsened by rising levels of air pollution. The study did not look at the science of why the two might be linked. Evidence suggests that particulate matter PM2.5 can contain antibiotic-resistant bacteria and resistance genes, which may be transferred between environments and inhaled directly by humans, the authors said. Air pollution is already the single largest environmental risk to public health. Long-term exposure to air pollution is associated with chronic conditions such as heart disease, asthma and lung cancer, reducing life expectancy. Short-term exposure to high pollution levels can cause coughing, wheezing and asthma attacks, and is leading to increased hospital and GP attendances worldwide.

Aug 8 1:24pm
Federal regulators continued their crackdown against employees of Wall Street firms using private messaging apps to communicate, with 11 brokerage firms and investment advisers agreeing Tuesday to pay $549 million in fines. From a report: Wells Fargo, BNP Paribas, Societe Generale and Bank of Montreal were hit with the biggest penalties by the Securities and Exchange Commission and the Commodity Futures Trading Commission. Together, the brokerage and investment advisory arms of those four financial institutions accounted for nearly 90 percent of the fines, according to statements released by the regulators. The latest round of fines adds to the nearly $2 billion in penalties against big Wall Street banks announced last year for similar violations. In all, the regulators have now penalized more than two dozen banks and investment firms for not properly policing employees use of "off channel" messaging services like WhatsApp, iMessage and Signal. The S.E.C. charged the financial institutions for failing to properly "maintain and preserve" all official communications by their employees. Federal securities laws require banks and investments firms to maintain records and make sure their employees are not conducting company business using unauthorized means of communication.

Aug 6 5:34am
Is natural gas really a cleaner alternative to coal and oil? That claim "is facing increasing scrutiny," writes Slashdot reader sonlas: One significant concern with natural gas is the release of methane, a powerful greenhouse gas, during its extraction, production, transportation, and processing. Methane is approximately 30 times more effective at trapping heat in the atmosphere than CO2 over a 100-year period. (And methane leaks can occur at various stages of the gas supply chain, from wellhead emissions during drilling and extraction to leakage during transportation and distribution.) Additionally, intentional venting or flaring of methane also contributes to the problem. An article published in Environmental Research Letters challenges the assumption that natural gas is a cleaner energy source compared to coal or oil. Their study takes into account the full lifecycle emissions of natural gas, including methane leakage rates, and arrives at a different conclusion. With a methane leakage rate of 7.5% and other relevant factors considered, the greenhouse gas emissions from natural gas can be on par with or even exceed those of coal. Even a lower methane leakage rate of 2% can diminish the environmental advantage of natural gas significantly. A key aspect of this study is its focus on real-world methane leakage rates. Aerial measurements conducted in various oil and gas production regions in the U.S. revealed substantial methane leak rates ranging from 0.65% to a staggering 66.2%. (Similar leakage rates have been identified in other parts of the world.) These findings raise serious concerns about the climate impact of natural gas and cast doubt on its role as a so-called "transition energy" in the quest for cleaner and more sustainable energy sources, especially liquefied natural gas... This complicates the search for sustainable energy solutions, especially in Europe where gas was included in the green taxonomy following a push from Germany.

Aug 4 7:25pm
Long-time Slashdot reader KindMind shares a report from The Register: Researchers at MIT claim to have found a novel new way to store energy using nothing but cement, a bit of water, and powdered carbon black -- a crystalline form of the element. The materials can be cleverly combined to create supercapacitors, which could in turn be used to build power-storing foundations of houses, roadways that could wirelessly charge vehicles, and serve as the foundation of wind turbines and other renewable energy systems -- all while holding a surprising amount of energy, the team claims. According to a paper published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 45 cubic meters of the carbon-black-doped cement could have enough capacity to store 10 kilowatt-hours of energy -- roughly the amount an average household uses in a day. A block of cement that size would measure about 3.5 meters per side and, depending on the size of the house, the block could theoretically store all the energy an off-grid home using renewables would need." [...] Just three percent of the mixture has to be carbon black for the hardened cement to act as a supercapacitor, but the researchers found that a 10 percent carbon black mixture appears to be ideal. Beyond that ratio, the cement becomes less stable -- not something you want in a building or foundation. The team notes that non-structural use could allow higher concentrations of carbon black, and thus higher energy storage capacity. The team has only built a tiny one-volt test platform using its carbon black mix, but has plans to scale up to supercapacitors the same size as a 12-volt automobile battery -- and eventually to the 45 cubic meter block. Along with being used for energy storage, the mix could also be used to provide heat -- by applying electricity to the conductive carbon network encased in the cement, MIT noted.

Aug 4 4:00am
A new study found that people working in finance, sales and managerial roles are much more likely than others on average to think their jobs are useless or unhelpful to others. Phys.Org reports: The study, by Simon Walo, of Zurich University, Switzerland, is the first to give quantitative support to a theory put forward by the American anthropologist David Graeber in 2018 that many jobs were "bullshit" -- socially useless and meaningless. Researchers had since suggested that the reason people felt their jobs were useless was solely because they were routine and lacked autonomy or good management rather than anything intrinsic to their work, but Mr. Walo found this was only part of the story. He analyzed survey data on 1,811 respondents in the U.S. working in 21 types of jobs, who were asked if their work gave them "a feeling of making a positive impact on community and society" and "the feeling of doing useful work." The American Working Conditions Survey, carried out in 2015, found that 19% of respondents answered "never" or "rarely" to the questions whether they had "a feeling of making a positive impact on community and society" and "of doing useful work" spread across a range of occupations. Mr. Walo adjusted the raw data to compare workers with the same degree of routine work, job autonomy and quality of management, and found that in the occupations Graeber thought were useless, the nature of the job still had a large effect beyond these factors. Those working in business and finance and sales were more than twice as likely to say their jobs were socially useless than others. Managers were 1.9 more likely to say this and office assistants 1.6 times. [...] Law was the only occupation cited by Graeber as useless where Mr. Walo found no statistically significant evidence that staff found their jobs meaningless. Mr. Walo also found that the share of workers who consider their jobs socially useless is higher in the private sector than in the non-profit or the public sector. The study has been published in the journal Work, Employment and Society.

Aug 3 8:00am
India restricted import of laptops, tablets, other personal computers and servers on Thursday, the local Ministry of Commerce and Industry said in an amendment, saying it will impose a licensing requirement for imports in a move that analysts say appears to be aimed at boosting the local manufacturing efforts.

Jul 31 8:03pm
Microsoft is extending the repairability program it introduced for its Surface PC products to include replacement parts for its Xbox Wireless Controller and Xbox Elite Controller Series 2 products. Neowin reports: The page on the Microsoft Store site shows that replacement parts are available for the top case for both versions of the controller, along with replacement buttons. In addition, Microsoft is selling Replacement Input PCBA boards for those Xbox controllers, along with the Replacement PCBA and Motor Assembly parts as well. The parts do come with a one-year warranty. In a new support page, Microsoft makes it clear that these parts should only be purchased and used for Xbox controllers that are out of their normal warranty period. On another support page, the company adds: "These types of repairs require moderate technical skill, and are suited for enthusiasts, professionals, or those with prior experience in electronic disassembly. If this is your first attempt at performing a repair, use caution and follow our safety recommendations and step-by-step instructions." Microsoft also says that certain tools, which are not directly sold by the company, will be needed to replace and repair the controllers. They include a plastic pry tool, TR8 and T5 Torx screwdriver bits and plastic tweezers. Microsoft does offer PDF files (PDF) and even offers YouTube video tutorials for repairing the Xbox Wireless Controller and the Xbox Elite Wireless Controller Series 2.

Jul 31 10:00am
Michael Larabel, reporting at Phoronix: Alpine Linux remains one of the most popular lightweight Linux distributions built atop musl libc and Busybox. Alpine Linux has found significant use within containers and the embedded space while now sadly the most prolific maintainer of packages for the Linux distribution has decided to step down from her roles. Alice "psykose" who is easily responsible for the highest number of commits per author over the past year has decided to step down from maintaining her packages. These Alpine aports stats put her at 13,894 commits over the past year. In comparison, the second most prolific packager saw just 2,053 commits... Or put another way, psykose has 6.7x the number of commits as the next packager. The 13.8k commits is also about half of the 26.8k commits seen in total over the past year. Over the weekend I was alerted to the fact that psykose/nekopsykose has begun dropping maintainership of packages she maintained. All of her recent alpinelinux/aports commits two days ago were removing packages she oversaw.

Jul 30 7:59pm
"The man behind the race to replace gasoline-fueled cars with electric ones is worried about having enough juice," writes the Wall Street Journal: In recent days he has reiterated those concerns, predicting U.S. consumption of electricity, driven in part by battery-powered vehicles, will triple by around 2045. That followed his saying earlier this month that he anticipates an electricity shortage in two years that could stunt the energy-hungry development of artificial intelligence. âoeYou really need to bring the time scale of projects in sooner and have a high sense of urgency,â Musk told energy executives Tuesday at a conference held by PG&E, one of the nationâ(TM)s largest utilities. âoeMy biggest concern is that thereâ(TM)s insufficient urgency....â The U.S. energy industry in recent years already has struggled at times to keep up with demand, resorting to threats of rolling blackouts amid heat waves and other demand spikes. Those stresses have rattled an industry undergoing an upheaval as old, polluting plants are being replaced by renewable energy. Utilities are spending big to retool their systems to be greener and make them more resilient. Deloitte estimates the largest U.S. electric companies together will spend as much as $1.8 trillion by 2030 on those efforts. Adding to the challenge is an industry historically accustomed to moving slowly, partly because of regulators aiming to protect consumers from price increases... PG&E expects electricity demand will rise 70% in the next 20 years, which, the California company notes, would be unprecedented. Similarly, McKinsey expects U.S. demand will double by 2050. âoeThis is an opportunity of the century for the power sector, and they could blow it if they donâ(TM)t get it right,â Michael Webber, an energy resources professor at the University of Texas, Austin, said of the industry. âoeThis demand growth is partly from EVs, but also heat pumps, data centers, AI, home devicesâ¦you name it....â One of Muskâ(TM)s solutions is to better optimize the grid by running power plants around-the-clock and storing the energy not used during peak hours in battery packs for use later. âoeIâ(TM)m not sure it might be as much as a 2x gainâ¦but itâ(TM)s at least 50% to 100% increase in total energy output,â Musk said recently.

AVC Sep 26 6:21am
On Saturday, September 9th, the Gotham Gal and I arrived at JFK airport after an eight-hour flight from Paris. While waiting for our luggage, I got pushed a notification in my web3 wallet that there was an NFT drop underway that I could participate in. So I clicked on the link, signed the transaction, and […]
Aug 28 5:58am
I’ve written about this topic before. It is an important topic and I want to raise it again. Boards often discuss CEO performance without really knowing how things work inside the company. And CEOs often have very little visibility to how they are doing and what the board thinks about their performance. When you work […]
Aug 23 5:17am
For many years, there were three ways to subscribe to AVC: 1/ Email – Get new posts delivered to your inbox 2/ RSS – Get new posts delivered to your RSS reader 3/ X – Follow AVC on X X revoked the API access that I was using to autopost three or four months ago. […]
Aug 13 6:18am
I got a new Pixel 7 last week and have started the tedious process of moving over to a new phone. One of the more painful chores in moving from one phone to another is moving the Google Authenticator app and all of the two factor codes to the new phone. My partner Nick told […]
Aug 6 5:12am
USV has been an investor in the Helium network since 2019. I have always loved the idea of using web3 technologies to let consumers to “peer produce” a communications network creating a people-powered network. Helium started out powering communications between low-power “Internet of Things (IOT)” devices but with the introduction of Helium Mobile back in […]
Jul 30 5:19am
I’ve written about this topic a bunch over the years. It is something I’ve been interested in for quite a while. Our homes are filled with big hunks of plastic hanging on the wall that are off most of the time. They look like this: Now that’s a lovely scene. Some nice plants. A cool […]
Jul 26 6:05am
The New York Times had a piece yesterday suggesting that tech will no longer be a growth engine for NYC and the surrounding metro area as it has been for the last twenty years. I am not going to link to the piece because it is behind a paywall but if you want to read […]
Brad Feld Jul 17 9:16am

I recently wrote the Foreword for Unshackled, a new book co-authored by Soundarya Basubramani, a writer from India, and Sameer Khedekar, a veteran immigration lawyer. Unshackled breaks down how legal immigration works in America in a way that is friendly, accessible, and human. It’s filled with raw stories of high-skilled immigrants who walked unconventional paths […]

The post Book: Unshackled: A Practical Guide For Highly-Skilled Immigrants To Thrive In The United States appeared first on Brad Feld.

AVC Jul 17 4:29am
The venture capital sector has been in a sustained downturn for almost eighteen months. How does this downturn end? Well, it may have already ended, but let’s see about that. We will know for sure in a few quarters. The NASDAQ peaked at roughly 16,000 in November 2021. By June 2022, it was down 33%. […]
Jul 12 4:43am
I spent a good part of my childhood at West Point, the US Military Academy. I got an email yesterday with photos of the flooding at West Point. My dad and brother used to work in that grey stone building called Mahan Hall. And the same storms that did this to West Point did worse […]
Jul 7 5:19am
Like tens of millions of others, I downloaded Threads onto my phone yesterday and signed up. The thing that Twitter has been missing since it killed off its ecosystem over a decade ago is competition. And as we all know, lack of competition is a very bad thing. In governments and in products. Competition keeps […]
Jul 3 5:22am
EV sales in the US are on the rise, reaching 7% of all car sales in Q1 2023, up from 4.6% a year earlier. If that rate of growth continues, EVs will be 10% of the US car market by next year. Most people who own an EV charge it at home, using an EV […]
Brad Feld Jun 30 9:18am

Alan Arkin is one of my favorite actors. I just saw a note that he passed away yesterday. I expect I’ll look like him when I lose my hair since he looks like my dad. And every time I see Alan Arkin, I think of my dad. If you see me driving my Jeep around […]

The post RIP Alan Arkin appeared first on Brad Feld.

AVC Jun 26 5:08am
The term “censorship resistant” is used a lot in the decentralized computing/web3/crypto space to talk about a core feature of these systems. I don’t love the term censorship resistant because it is a wonky term. Software that is encoded in smart contracts (and other ways) on fully decentralized blockchains can’t be shut down or turned […]
Jun 18 5:54am
Smartphones have had voice input for over a decade now and yet I don’t know that many people who use voice input regularly. I would guess that maybe 10 to 20% of smartphone users are using voice input regularly. That’s a guess based on absolutely no data other than observing friends, family, and colleagues. However, […]
Jun 13 1:26pm
The last time I posted was May 23rd, three weeks ago. There was a time when I wrote every day. When I had not yet posted on any day, I felt like something was missing, like I had not yet had my cup of coffee. Clearly, I have moved on from that need to write […]
Brad Feld Jun 1 7:36am

The Venture Deals course is free and starts on June 20, 2023. This is the fourth time we are running the new version of the course (v2!) that was co-created with Techstars and Kauffman Fellows. If interested, sign up now. I hope to see you in one of the AMAs we will host for anyone who takes the […]

The post Venture Deals Summer 2023 Course appeared first on Brad Feld.

AVC May 23 6:08am
Back in 2014, USV got subpoenaed by the New York State Department of Financial Services (DFS) over our web3 investing activities. We hired a law firm, answered the subpoena, and that ultimately landed me in public testimony in front of the DFS staff. In my testimony, I explained to the DFS staff that the difference […]
Brad Feld May 21 12:03pm

John McPhee’s Levels of the Game was published when I was three. I’ve read many books about tennis, but it’s still my favorite, with String Theory: David Foster Wallace on Tennis coming in a close second. Both books share extraordinary writers and a topic I can relate to, given my short but profane junior tennis […]

The post Book: Draft No. 4: On the Writing Process appeared first on Brad Feld.

AVC May 19 5:55am
This is the second post in a row where I am bringing back an old tradition. This time it is Fun Friday, something I haven’t done in about five years. Like last week, the catalyst is our portfolio company Blackbird Labs, which I posted about a few months ago. Blackbird is a platform for the […]
Brad Feld May 10 9:57am

I got an email from Matt Blumberg this morning with the above image that said, “We have been blogging for 19 years. I can remember sitting together above Super Liquor futzing with Typepad like it was yesterday.” “Super Liquor” is Superior Liquor in Superior, Colorado, which was on the first floor of the building off […]

The post 19 Years Ago Today appeared first on Brad Feld.

May 8 8:44am

Startup Snapshot, a data-sharing platform for the entrepreneurial ecosystem, recently released its latest report, The Untold Toll: The Impact of stress on the well-being of startup founders and CEOs. Clearly, the emotional state of founders and entrepreneurs in any period, especially now in this economic environment, is a critical driver of success. Yet the emotional, cognitive, […]

The post The Impact of Stress on the Well-being of Startup Founders and CEOs appeared first on Brad Feld.

Apr 26 5:16am

Chris Heivly released Build the Fort: The Startup Community Builder’s Field Guide. I encourage you to get Chris’s book if you are a startup community builder or are interested in startup communities. When Ian Hathaway and I started working on The Startup Community Way: Evolving an Entrepreneurial Ecosystem, we initially talked to Chris about writing […]

The post Book: Build the Fort: The Startup Community Builder’s Field Guide appeared first on Brad Feld.

Apr 20 6:35am

After my post about the Founder Mental Health Pledge, I received a note from Kari Palazzari, the Executive Director of Studio Arts Boulder, a local nonprofit that manages a community pottery studio. She lamented that very few members of the Boulder startup community seem to take advantage of their programs. She said, “Studio Arts Boulder […]

The post Pottery and Mental Health for Entrepreneurs in Boulder appeared first on Brad Feld.