An anonymous reader quotes a report from The Register: Ransomware infections have morphed into “a psychological attack against the victim organization,” as criminals use increasingly personal and aggressive tactics to force victims to pay up, according to Google-owned Mandiant. “We saw situations where threat actors essentially SIM swap the phones of children of executives, and
Read MoreA new national survey (PDF) from CNBC/Generation Lab of 1,033 people aged 18 to 34 found that an overwhelming 81% of respondents believe a four-day workweek would boost their company’s productivity, while 19% said productivity would decline. CNBC reports: Those results from the “Youth & Money in the USA” survey come amid discussions around the
Read MoreIndependent presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr. had both a brain parasite and mercury poisoning at the same time. Just how rare is each condition?
Read MoreGoogle announced on Tuesday that it will be exiting One Market Plaza, a prominent office complex in San Francisco that it had been occupying since 2018. The company’s lease for the 300,000-square-foot-office will expire next April. The San Francisco Chronicle reports: Many of Google’s employees are already working outside of the giant waterfront office, in
Read MorePhoto by Tom Warren / The Verge Recently, motherboard makers have issued BIOS updates to improve the stability of Intel 13th and 14th Gen i9 chips in crashing games. But Intel, which announced last month that it was investigating these issues, is now asking gamers not to implement those settings. The companies now seem to
Read MoreA federal judge has raised concerns about whether Apple has overly complex barriers that could deter the usage of alternative payment methods in iPhone apps. Judge questions Apple’s commitment to App Store payment alternatives Judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers’ injunction requires Apple to allow app developers to embed links to alternate payment systems. Its goal is
Read MoreImage: The Verge Microsoft Strategic Missions and Technology CTO William Chappell announced that it’s deployed a GPT-4 large language model in an isolated, air-gapped environment on a government-only network. Bloomberg first reported the setup, citing an unnamed executive who claimed that the Azure Government Top Secret cloud-hosted model represents the first time a “major” LLM
Read MoreThe new iPad Pros skipped straight to M4, and initial benchmarks show the potential performance improvements match Apple’s claims. Apple’s new iPad Pros run the M4 processor Apple’s M4 processor won’t be available in the wild until devices arrive in customers hands on May 15. But, that may not have stopped some reviewers with pre-release
Read MoreLibrarians are fighting a nationwide battle against high e-book prices, which so far has yielded minimal results. Despite efforts and temporary legislative victories, strict renewal and loan policies imposed by publishers keep e-book costs high, limiting the number of popular titles libraries can offer and leading to frustration among patrons. Axios reports: Publishers typically require
Read MoreAn anonymous reader quotes a report from Ars Technica: The Federal Communications Commission clarified its net neutrality rules to prohibit more kinds of fast lanes. While the FCC voted to restore net neutrality rules on April 25, it didn’t release the final text of the order until yesterday. The final text (PDF) has some changes
Read MoreIllustration: The Verge AI tools behaving badly — like Microsoft’s Bing AI losing track of which year it is — has become a subgenre of reporting on AI. But very often, it’s hard to tell the difference between a bug and poor construction of the underlying AI model that analyzes incoming data and predicts what
Read MoreThe Pixel 8a, like the Pixel 8 and Pixel 8 Pro, supports Android’s powered-off finding feature. Powered-off finding enables devices to be located on Google’s Find My Device network even when they’re off or have run out of battery. This is made possible by specialized hardware that reserves power to the phone’s Bluetooth chip for
Read MoreCheck out the little wheels on the upper left side. | Image: CAST China’s Chang’e 6 lunar probe mission is bound for the far side of the Moon, and there seems to be a small rover affixed to the side of the lander, as seen in new images released by the China Academy of Space
Read MoreIllustration by Nick Barclay / The Verge There’s a new streaming bundle coming to town. Disney and Warner Bros. Discovery are teaming up to offer Disney Plus, Hulu, and Max in a bundle that will become available in the US this summer. The new bundle will include both ad-supported and ad-free options, but there’s still
Read MoreMichael Larabel reports via Phoronix: Building off the recent release of Fedora 40, Fedora Asahi Remix 40 is now available for this downstream of Fedora Linux that’s optimized to run on Apple Silicon ARM systems. Fedora Asahi Remix continues to be one of the best ways of enjoying a Linux experience atop recent Apple Macs
Read MoreCredit: Edgar Cervantes / Android Authority A new “App Mall” is in the works for Chromebooks, promising a streamlined way to discover and install apps. The App Mall draws inspiration from the existing Explore app and makes installing web apps incredibly easy. Currently, the App Mall features only Android and web apps, not Linux apps.
Read MoreThe Pixel 8a will get access to Google’s AI wallpaper app, which is currently exclusive to the Pixel 8 and 8 Pro. Google’s AI wallpaper app will arrive in the phone’s first software update. The app uses a generative AI model to create entirely new wallpapers. Yesterday, Google surprised the tech world by announcing its
Read MoreCredit: Edgar Cervantes / Android Authority Names of unknown people who contact you could start showing in Google Messages notifications. For this feature to work, those people will need to have profile discovery enabled and have the number linked to their Google account. Google is working on allowing users to enable or disable profile discovery
Read MoreImage: Nick Barclay / The Verge Advertisers can now use Walmart’s shopping data to target Disney’s streaming portfolio, which includes Disney Plus and Hulu, Adweek reports. The news comes after the companies announced a partnership between Disney Advertising and Walmart Connect, the retailer’s media business, on Wednesday. As a part of the deal, Walmart advertisers
Read MoreSmart home device maker Brilliant has laid off most of its staff and is seeking a buyer after failing to secure funding, CEO Aaron Emigh told The Verge. The company has shut down its support center and halted sales of its smart light switches and controllers, which integrate with various smart home platforms. Emigh said
Read MoreApple CEO Tim Cook is planning to exit Apple within the next ten years. Here are the strongest contenders to be his replacement as chief executive. Apple CEO Tim Cook and potential candidates to replace him Tim Cook’s time at the top of Apple is limited, according to the man himself. In an interview from
Read MorePhoto by Tom Warren / The Verge Microsoft introduced a compact mode for its Xbox app on Windows last year, which is designed to improve the handheld experience. While compact mode initially focused on UI improvements for small screens, Microsoft is moving on to tackling some of the challenges of navigating around the Xbox app
Read MoreWhatever the industry, more and more people are using artificial intelligence to assist with their work, especially since the launch of ChatGPT. Many workers and students now use the tool to write documents, essays, and more. It often speeds up the process of creating content and managing the mundane aspects of work. While they aren’t
Read MoreBankrupt cryptocurrency exchange FTX has accumulated billions of dollars more than necessary to cover the losses incurred during its collapse in November 2022. FTX CEO John Ray voiced his astonishment at the milestone in a commentary to Bloomberg, indicating the exchange’s ability to fully reimburse its over 2 million customers. With the upcoming sale of
Read MoreSometimes, this is me. | Screenshot: Apple Credit where it’s due: the commercial for the new iPad Pro is impeccable. In the commercial, a hydraulic press, like the kind that crushes Skittles all day on TikTok, slowly descends onto a whole amalgamation of artistic endeavors. As the large metal plate drops like Tesla’s stock in
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