Slashdot
News for Nerds. Stuff that Matters.
California Ghost-Gun Bill Wants 3D Printers To Play Cop, EFF Says
California’s AB 2047 would force 3D‑printer makers to embed state‑certified software that scans design files for firearm components and blocks prohibited prints. The Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) argues the mandate is technically unworkable, easy to circumvent, and would create a de‑facto surveillance system for users. Critics warn the law could push manufacturers toward proprietary slicer software, sidelining open‑source alternatives. If enacted, owners who bypass the scanning could face criminal liability, raising concerns for hobbyists and small businesses that rely on 3D printing for legitimate purposes.
Audit Finds Google, Microsoft, and Meta Still Tracking Users After Opt-Out
An independent privacy audit by webXray examined traffic on over 7,000 popular California websites in March and found that Google, Microsoft and Meta routinely set advertising cookies even when users signaled an opt‑out via the Global Privacy Control (GPC). Google...
Social Media Platforms Need To Stop Never-Ending Scrolling, UK's Starmer Says
UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer urged social‑media firms to strip away infinite‑scroll features for users under 16, as Britain widens its child‑online‑safety consultation. The government is weighing bans, curfews and app‑time limits to curb addictive usage, and more than 45,000...
Meta Is Warned That Facial Recognition Glasses Will Arm Sexual Predators
Meta plans to embed a facial‑recognition feature called “Name Tag” in its Ray‑Ban and Oakley smart glasses, allowing wearers to pull up information on anyone they see. The technology could identify people the wearer is connected to or any public...
Maine Set To Become First State With Data Center Ban
Maine is poised to become the first U.S. state to impose a temporary ban on new data‑center construction, halting projects statewide until November 2027. The bill, already cleared by lawmakers, also creates a council to develop guardrails that protect residents from...
Will Some Programmers Become 'AI Babysitters'?
AI-powered large language models can now generate functional code in seconds, prompting industry leaders to warn that the real challenge lies in verifying and securing those outputs. Maggie Johnson, Google.org Global Head, describes a shift from code authoring to a...
How Good Is Windows on Arm With Snapdragon X?
Qualcomm has introduced the Snapdragon X2 chipset, the first high‑performance ARM processor certified for Windows 11 on ARM. Microsoft has invested heavily in compatibility layers, allowing most users to spend 90% of their time in native ARM applications. The Prism...
'Super Mario Galaxy Movie' And 'Project Hail Mary' Combine for Best Box Office in 7 Years
Super Mario Galaxy Movie has become the year’s top‑grossing film, pulling in $629 million worldwide and is projected to surpass $1 billion. Following closely, Amazon MGM’s Project Hail Mary earned over $510 million in its first four weeks, making it the second‑highest earner...
Botched IT Upgrade Ended Liquor Sales for the Entire State of Mississippi
Mississippi’s single state‑run liquor warehouse halted operations after a contractor installed an incompatible IT system and removed conveyor belts without staffing replacements. The glitch left 171,190 orders pending, a 21.7% drop from early February, and forced restaurants and stores to...
Neuroscientist's AI-Powered Startup Aims To Transform Human Cognition With Perfect, Infinite Memory
Former Harvard Medical School professor and neuroscientist Amir Kreiman, together with co‑founder Spandan Madan, launched Engramme, an AI startup that claims to give humans perfect, infinite memory by linking a personal "memorome" to large memory models. The platform promises automatic...
Crypto Billionaire Pardoned In Prison By Trump Just Wrote a Memoir
Binance founder Changpeng Zhao, estimated by Forbes at $110 billion, has self‑published a 364‑page memoir titled Freedom of Money. The book recounts his rapid ascent in crypto, a four‑month California prison stint, and a presidential pardon from Donald Trump. Zhao details...
Latin America's Central Banks Establish Digital Payments Used By Hundreds of Millions
Latin America’s central banks have rolled out instant‑payment platforms that now serve hundreds of millions, highlighted by Brazil’s Pix reaching 175 million users. Argentina and Costa Rica have followed suit with their own digital systems, leveraging a clean‑slate infrastructure free of...
Judge Pauses Arizona's Prosecution of Kalshi, Bars Arizona From Regulating Prediction Markets
A U.S. District Judge in Arizona temporarily blocked the state from enforcing its gambling laws against prediction‑market operator Kalshi, halting a criminal arraignment. The ruling follows a lawsuit by the Commodity Futures Trading Commission, which argued that Kalshi’s event contracts...
Oxygen Made From Moon Dust For First Time
Blue Origin announced its Air Pioneer reactor can generate breathable oxygen from lunar regolith by applying an electric current, marking the first successful in‑situ oxygen extraction on the Moon. The compact system also liberates iron, aluminium and silicon, and would...
Researchers Build a Talking Robot Guide Dog to Help Visually Impaired People Navigate
Researchers at the State University of New York at Binghamton have unveiled a robotic guide dog that can hold simple back‑and‑forth conversations about navigation. By pairing a large language model with a navigation planner, the prototype can understand open‑ended requests,...
