Longtime Slashdot reader [1]Elektroschock writes:

> The American Business Software Alliance (BSA) [2]does not consider mandatory open-source licensing to be an appropriate indicator of sovereignty. This is among the "pointed messages" they sent to the French government [3]consultation (closed) today. "What protects Europe is the ability to govern, audit, and mitigate risk, not where a company files its corporate papers," said Thomas Boue of BSA. "Criteria of this kind raise costs, reduce access to best-in-class security solutions, and risk conflicting with the EU's international trade commitments."



[1] https://slashdot.org/~Elektroschock

[2] https://www.bsa.org/news-events/news/bsa-warns-origin-based-sovereignty-criteria-will-hurt-europes-competitiveness

[3] https://grist.numerique.gouv.fr/o/docs/forms/5MfhKLVZgFUc5aVjigP5sM/4

An anonymous reader quotes a report from 9to5Google:

> There's been a lot of pushback in recent months around the impact of AI data centers on local communities, with the use of water being a key issue for many. Google, in an expansion of its "water stewardship" programs, is making commitments that [1]include replenishing more water than it uses at its data center sites . AI data centers go through a lot of water use in cooling the hardware used to power models, and Google is no exception. While Google stands by saying that the impact of AI data centers on U.S. water consumption is "small," it also says it is focusing on "protecting local water resources in all aspects of our data center operations."

>

> In a post, Google [2]explains five new commitments regarding water use at its data centers in the U.S. These include replenishing more water than is consumed at data centers, helping local utilities to modernize water infrastructure, using air-cooled solutions in areas where watersheds are at risk, "transparently" reporting water use at data centers, and focusing on "alternative and reclaimed" water solutions. [...] In a [3]linked paper (PDF), Google says it will replenish 120% of the water it uses at data center sites by 2030. Google is also committing $17 million to new water stewardship projects in Georgia, Iowa, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, and Texas in addition to 165 other projects already in place throughout the U.S.



[1] https://9to5google.com/2026/06/03/google-says-it-will-replenish-more-water-than-it-uses-at-data-centers-amid-public-pushback/

[2] https://blog.google/company-news/outreach-and-initiatives/sustainability/new-water-stewardship-commitments/

[3] https://www.gstatic.com/gumdrop/sustainability/google-water-stewardship.pdf

Valve says its long-awaited Steam Machine and Steam Frame are [1]both "shipping this summer ." The company is also [2]expanding its Verified program beyond Steam Deck to cover the new hardware. "Steam Verified is a developer-focused program where game makers ensure that their titles are capable of running on the Deck (meaning they'll run fine under Linux), that the UI elements and text are readable at standard resolutions, and that sensible default graphics settings are used," notes Tom's Hardware. From the report:

> The news should ease the worries of many an expecting gamer, given today's constant worries about AI servers slurping every RAM and NAND chip on the face of the earth, as well as Valve's own statements about component scarcity delaying the release. Plus, the company always works on its own schedule, so much so that Valve Time is a term.

>

> The release of the Machine has been taking flak, given that while Valve was initially hoping for an estimated $600 to $800 price -- in the ballpark of the higher-end consoles -- the rumored pricing is [3]climbing around or over $1000 . This fact is somewhat corroborated by a February statement from a Valve executive who, like most anyone in the world, stated the price revision was due to the AI-driven component shortage.



[1] https://www.tomshardware.com/video-games/pc-gaming/valve-says-steam-machine-and-steam-frame-shipping-this-summer-company-confirms-release-window-as-it-expands-verified-program

[2] https://steamcommunity.com/groups/steamworks/announcements/detail/716780409378048028

[3] https://news.slashdot.org/story/26/05/28/1713246/valves-steam-deck-sells-out-again-even-after-40-price-increase

NASA ordered astronauts on the International Space Station to [1]shelter in their spacecraft and prepare for possible evacuation after a worsening air leak in the Russian Zvezda service module's transfer tunnel. The Guardian reports:

> The four astronauts of NASA's Crew-12 mission on the station -- two US astronauts, a French astronaut and a Russian cosmonaut -- received orders from NASA mission control at 9.04am ET (2pm BST) on Friday to enter their Crew Dragon spacecraft docked to the station and don their spacesuits in case the air leak warranted an emergency evacuation, a NASA official said.

>

> NASA and Russia's space agency Roscosmos, the station's two primary operators, have debated for months over the cause and potential fixes of small air leaks onboard Russia's Zvezda service module, a key structure of the football-pitch-sized laboratory. The air leaks have been relatively minor in recent months. But on Monday the problem escalated from a pound of air per day to two pounds (0.9kg) a senior Nasa official told Reuters on condition of anonymity.

UPDATE: "Roscosmos has paused Friday's structural repair efforts inside the Zvezda service module transfer tunnel, known as PrK, as more measurements and data is assessed," Bethany Stevens, a spokesperson for NASA, [2]posted on X .

"Given this development, NASA has instructed the crew members inside the Dragon spacecraft to end the safe haven procedures and return to planned operations aboard the International Space Station. We look forward to working with Roscosmos on a collaborative approach to address the leaks."

Developing...



[1] https://www.theguardian.com/science/live/2026/jun/05/international-space-station-astronauts-evacuation-air-leak-latest-news-updates

[2] https://x.com/NASASpox/status/2062911600181350832?s=20

An anonymous reader quotes a report from The Guardian:

> Bumblebees [1]can use tools to solve a problem , according to experiments that demonstrate their remarkably advanced cognitive abilities. The bees were given an adapted version of [2]an experiment that, 100 years ago, first demonstrated chimpanzees could work out how to retrieve an out-of-reach banana by stacking boxes. Since then, various other primates, elephants and crows have joined an elite cohort of species known to be capable of this level of insight and spontaneous problem solving. In the latest research, bees were shown to be able to roll a polystyrene ball to a specific location and climb on to it in order to access an artificial flower on a low ceiling. The findings challenge the longstanding assumption that insects operate purely on instinct and mindless trial-and-error learning.

"Most people think insects are reflex-based machines," said Dr Olli Loukola, a behavioral ecologist at the University of Oulu, Finland, and senior author. "That they can't have any emotional states or feel pain. Some people don't even realize that they have brains. I hope that these results change the worldview about that."

"We are not claiming that bees think like humans," added Loukola. "But our findings show that miniature brains can generate flexible solutions to novel problems in ways we are only beginning to understand."

The findings are [3]published in the journal Science .



[1] https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2026/jun/04/bees-use-tools-to-solve-problems-study-finds

[2] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Monkey_and_banana_problem

[3] https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/science.ady1618

Anthropic is [1]urging leading AI labs to consider slowing development , warning that frontier models are advancing fast enough that they may soon be able to improve themselves without direct human intervention. The company says a global ability to pause or slow AI development would "likely be a good thing," citing internal data about accelerating model capabilities. From a blog post:

> Using public benchmarks and previously unreported data from within Anthropic, [2]The Anthropic Institute is showing that AI is already accelerating the development of AI systems. To take just one example: today, Anthropic engineers on average ship 8x as much code per quarter as they did from 2021-2025.

>

> The technical trends discussed in this piece suggest that AI systems are going to become much more capable in coming years. These trends have huge implications. AI that can build itself would be a major development in the history of technology -- one that could bring [3]enormous good for the world in science, healthcare, and beyond. But full recursive self-improvement also might increase the [4]risks of humans losing control over AI systems. If systems are capable of fully building their own successors, the ways we secure them, monitor them, and shape their behavior all grow much more important. [...]

>

> If it were possible to effectively slow the development of this technology to give ourselves more time to deal with its immense implications, we think that would likely be a good thing. But if a slowdown simply lets the least cautious actors [5]catch up technologically, it could leave everyone less safe. Without a global coordination mechanism, companies and governments will have to make difficult decisions about safety while under competitive and geopolitical pressures.

>

> We believe it would be good for the world to have the option to slow or temporarily pause frontier AI development to enable societal structures and alignment research to keep up with the advance of the technology. The Anthropic Institute will conduct research -- in collaboration with many others -- and take actions to help build the systems that a credible slowdown or pause would require. These systems would enable frontier AI developers to verify that others globally have actually stopped or slowed, and that a bad actor could not use the auspices of a coordinated slowdown to jump ahead in secret. If such systems existed, we expect that we would slow down or temporarily pause, if other developers at or near the frontier also did so in a verifiable manner...



[1] https://www.wsj.com/tech/ai/anthropic-urges-global-pause-in-ai-development-flags-self-improvement-risk-99cefb73

[2] https://www.anthropic.com/institute

[3] https://www.darioamodei.com/essay/machines-of-loving-grace

[4] https://www.darioamodei.com/essay/the-adolescence-of-technology

[5] https://www.anthropic.com/research/2028-ai-leadership

Waymo and B2U Storage Solutions have [1]struck a "strategic supply agreement" to [2]repurpose used batteries from Waymo's electric robotaxi fleet into stationary storage for California and Texas power grids. The arrangement could give robotaxi batteries a second life storing renewable energy after they're no longer suitable for vehicle use. It will also "support B2U projects in regions where Waymo's autonomous robotaxis operate -- meaning the used Waymo batteries could bolster the local power grids that Waymo vehicles rely upon for charging," reports Ars Technica. From the report:

> Waymo's "proactive maintenance" for its autonomous vehicles includes identifying opportunities to "refresh the battery to improve efficiency overall for our fleet," Adam Lenz, head of sustainability and environment at Waymo, told Ars. "That's when we look to these second-life applications, because there's still a lot of life left in the battery," he said.

>

> Waymo did not specify the average mileage at which it swaps out batteries or retires vehicles from service. But Waymo robotaxis drive around much more each day than the typical EV, which means the Waymo fleet is likely to experience faster [3]usage-related degradation of battery capacity over time. The company confirmed to Ars that "some of these vehicles have now been serving riders for years and have mileage beyond what a normal consumer drives."

>

> [...] "Put a little haircut on that in terms of degradation and the effective capacity that would be left in those batteries when they're suitable for repurposing, and we're still talking about pretty significant capacity per battery," Hall said. The growing Waymo robotaxi fleet could lead to "pretty large numbers in terms of megawatt hours of capacity that can be deployed pretty quickly" for stationary energy storage supporting power grids, he suggested.

>

> The agreement gives Waymo discretion over when and how many used batteries will be turned over to B2U. But the companies confirmed that B2U has "already started receiving smaller initial quantities of batteries" from the Waymo fleet. Over time, the agreement could give B2U "hundreds of megawatt-hours" of additional storage capacity from Waymo's thousands of electric vehicles, Lenz said.



[1] https://waymo.com/blog/2026/06/b2u-partnership

[2] https://arstechnica.com/science/2026/06/used-waymo-robotaxi-batteries-become-backup-storage-for-power-grids/

[3] https://www.nature.com/articles/s41560-024-01675-8

A new npm supply-chain attack has [1]infected 36 packages with Rust-based infostealer malware called IronWorm . According to BleepingComputer, the malware "targets 86 environment variables (key-value pairs) and 20 credential files that may contain OpenAI, AWS, Anthropic, and npm credentials, vault configuration files, SSH keys, and Exodus cryptocurrency wallet files." From the report:

> According to researchers at supply-chain and devops company JFrog, IronWorm is written in Rust, hides behind an eBPF kernel rootkit, and communicates with the operator over the Tor network. The Rust-based malware self-propagates by using stolen credentials for publishing on npm; this includes secrets associated with npm's Trusted Publishing workflow. Once it compromises a developer or CI environment, it can publish trojanized versions of packages owned by the victim, which then infect additional developers and CI systems.

>

> This behavior is conceptually [2]similar to Shai Hulud , which had its code published on GitHub recently. Although JFrog researchers did not find a clear connection between IronWorm and Shai Hulud, they [3]observed the same commit names in both supply-chain attacks. This opens the possibility that the new malware is an evolution of TeamPCP's payload, since IronWorm appears to be "a custom, carefully built implant from an operation with its own infrastructure."

>

> [...] The company provides a list of all impacted package names and their versions in the report and recommends that developers upgrade to fixed releases, rotate their keys, and enable two-factor authentication (2FA) for all accounts. At the same time, [4]Endor Labs and [5]StepSecurity have spotted a very similar but distinct attack involving a JavaScript-based malware named binding.gyp, performing registry poisoning and GitHub Actions infection, unfolding during the same time-frame.



[1] https://www.bleepingcomputer.com/news/security/new-ironworm-malware-hits-36-packages-in-npm-supply-chain-attack/

[2] https://it.slashdot.org/story/25/09/20/0542237/self-replicating-worm-affected-several-hundred-npm-packages-including-crowdstrikes

[3] https://research.jfrog.com/post/iron-worm-shai-hulud-rustier-cousin/

[4] https://www.endorlabs.com/learn/malicious-payload-in-ai-sdk-ollama-npm-package

[5] https://www.stepsecurity.io/blog/binding-gyp-npm-supply-chain-attack-spreads-like-worm

An anonymous reader quotes a report from 404 Media:

> The moderators of the biohacking subreddit say that peptide and hormone replacement therapy companies have been [1]surreptitiously spamming Reddit in an attempt to get their posts scraped by AI chatbots . The strategy is an effort to systematically manipulate the answers provided by chatbots by manipulating the underlying source material that those chatbots will scrape -- in this case, a popular Reddit community. In [2]a post last week, the moderators of r/biohackers said they would be banning new posts about peptides and hormone replacement therapy (HRT) because of attempted manipulation by the companies that make, market, and sell them. [...] "As AI search engines increasingly pull answers from Reddit, companies are using us for [3]AEO . On top of that, there's been an explosion of peptide interest and AI usage flooding the sub. Together, this has put serious pressure on content quality," a post by the moderators read.

>

> [...] It has become incredibly difficult to stop Reddit manipulation, because the firms doing it are getting more sophisticated. The moderator said that there are really standard and long-running strategies where brands will hop in the comments and suggest their products: "That type of marketing has always existed and if people want to try something new because the brand resonated with them, cool. That's the way marketing should flow in my mind," they said. "But what I'm seeing that is way scarier to me is that there are companies that will reverse-engineer the actual prompt patterns that are prioritized by LLMs, and so you'll see someone post a super clickbait, high-traction, vague question like 'Is all the hype around Vitamin D actually worth it?" they added. "And that thread will do really well because everyone on biohackers actually has an opinion, so it gets engagement and prioritized by LLMs, and then brands will sneak in and they'll embed their brand mentions in those threads in the exact right places in a seemingly organic way. But none of it is organic, the entire thing is a strategy by an agency to prioritize brand mentions or a narrative within an LLM."

>

> The Reddit accounts that are doing this are "warmed up" or are made to seem human, meaning they have a posting history that is not just promotional. This makes them much harder to detect and moderate against. Some of the agencies doing this are paying real people to post promotional content, or have built communities where people are incentivized to post promotional content. The moderator said that Reddit's automated moderation tools have been helpful, but that the type of promotion happening has become so sophisticated that it has become more of a you-know-it-if-you-see it kind of thing. "A lot of it has become pattern recognition," they said. "You literally just sort of know what to look for. But the problem is you don't want to become punitive to the people who aren't doing this maliciously, and so I think the over-moderation risk is very real."



[1] https://www.404media.co/companies-are-using-reddit-to-manipulate-chatgpt-and-google-ai-search/

[2] https://www.reddit.com/r/Biohackers/comments/1toaxp9/official_policy_update_on_peptide_hrt_content/

[3] https://www.tryprofound.com/resources/articles/what-is-answer-engine-optimization

Meta has reportedly [1]delayed the developer release of its Muse Spark AI model API multiple times , and as of Tuesday, had no scheduled launch date, according to the [2]Wall Street Journal (paywalled). Reuters reports:

> A Meta spokesperson told Reuters on Wednesday that the company is already testing the Application Programming Interface (API) with some early partners and is looking forward to releasing it this month. "The muse spark API will be coming soon," Meta AI Chief Alexandr Wang announced in a post on X in April.

>

> Meta unveiled Muse Spark in April as the first model built to close the gap with rivals. Muse Spark is the first in a new series of models created by the company's Superintelligence Labs. Earlier on Wednesday, Meta [3]unveiled an AI agent aimed at helping businesses carry out day-to-day operations, hinting at the company's ambitions to compete with rivals such as OpenAI, Anthropic and Alphabet's Google.



[1] https://www.reuters.com/technology/meta-repeatedly-pushes-back-new-ai-model-release-developers-wsj-says-2026-06-04/

[2] https://www.wsj.com/tech/ai/meta-keeps-delaying-the-release-of-its-new-ai-model-to-developers-f8569c8c?mod=hp_lead_pos3

[3] https://about.fb.com/news/2026/06/meta-business-agent/

The U.S. and its Five Eyes intelligence partners issued a [1]joint warning (PDF) that Chinese military intelligence services are using LinkedIn and other professional networking sites to [2]recruit people with access to government, military, foreign policy, or sensitive economic information . "These actors use an aggressive online recruitment strategy whereby intelligence officers or their affiliates pose as employees of private consultancies, think tanks or human resources firms, and place online job advertisements for foreign policy and defense analysts," the agencies said Wednesday. "China's military intelligence services ultimately seek to acquire privileged military, political and economic intelligence that can provide China with a strategic and tactical advantage over the Five Eyes." Bloomberg reports:

> China was targeting Five Eyes nationals with security clearance, particularly those working in foreign affairs, security and intelligence, and military personnel including people stationed in the Asia-Pacific region, it said. People with more peripheral access to government information, such as academics, journalists and think tank employees, were also being approached.

>

> The Chinese embassy in the UK strongly condemned the accusations, calling the allegation of Chinese espionage threats "entirely fabricated" and "malicious slander." The "Five Eyes" members have "engaged in unscrupulous espionage and intelligence-gathering activities around the globe. Their activities are the real threat to peace-loving countries," the embassy said in [3]a statement Thursday.

>

> [...] According to the agencies, Chinese spies have commissioned reports to be written by those they've approached, paying them anywhere from a few hundred to several thousand dollars, with payments sometimes made in cryptocurrency. "Military members may be asked about their roles and unit activities, home base or naval vessel," the notice said. "Five Eyes agencies have identified individuals who have undertaken these activities, leading to criminal prosecutions, job losses, and security-clearance revocation," it warned.



[1] https://www.mi5.gov.uk/sites/default/files/2026-06/SAFEGUARDING%20OUR%20SECRETS_DIGITAL-03.pdf

[2] https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2026-06-03/us-and-five-eyes-allies-warn-of-linkedin-china-spying-threat

[3] https://gb.china-embassy.gov.cn/lcbt/sgryr/202606/t20260604_11937091.htm

An anonymous reader quotes a report from the Associated Press:

> The Supreme Court sided with the Trump administration Thursday in [1]upholding the power of federal regulators to enforce data privacy laws on telecommunications companies . The [2]8-1 decision (PDF) preserved one of the Federal Communications Commission's key tools, though the companies also won a concession from the Republican administration that could shift the regulatory landscape.

>

> The appeal from telecommunications giants Verizon and AT&T challenged a combined $100 million in penalties imposed after the agency determined that the companies had failed to safeguard customer location data. The companies argued that the FCC's process was unconstitutional because it gave them little opportunity to tell their side of the story in front of a jury. The administration defended the fines are an essential regulatory tool. But the government also said companies did not have to pay the penalties right away, a regulatory shift in the companies' favor.

>

> The Supreme Court agreed, affirming the FCC's power to order fines when challenges are still available. "The orders at issue did not settle the carriers' legal obligations because, stated simply, they did not create an obligation to pay," Chief Justice John Roberts wrote for the majority. [...] Other agencies use similar enforcement methods, so a sweeping victory for AT&T and Verizon could have had widespread effects, advocates said.



[1] https://apnews.com/article/supreme-court-att-verizon-location-data-fcc-c0d184c82a104d653c8f1452357f68bd

[2] https://www.supremecourt.gov/opinions/25pdf/25-406_nmip.pdf

NASA has [1]officially ended the MAVEN mission after the Mars orbiter [2]stopped responding in December, apparently after an unexpected spin drained its batteries and knocked out communications. Launched in 2013 and orbiting Mars since 2014, MAVEN spent more than a decade studying how the planet lost its atmosphere and helped explain how Mars transformed from a potentially habitable world into the cold, dry planet seen today. The New York Times reports:

> The NASA spacecraft MAVEN, short for Mars Atmosphere and Volatile Evolution, had been orbiting around the Red Planet since 2014. NASA last received a signal from MAVEN on Dec. 6, shortly before the spacecraft passed behind Mars. Then the spacecraft stopped responding. A review board found that MAVEN began unexpectedly rotating, causing its batteries to drain too quickly and resulting in a loss of power to the communications system.

>

> "The team is certainly broken up about this," said Shannon Curry, the principal investigator of the mission and a scientist at the University of Colorado Boulder, [3]at a news conference on Wednesday. "But at the same time, we are incredibly proud of the science we've accomplished over the last decade." NASA officials declined to speculate on the root cause of the mishap. A final report is expected to be released later this year.



[1] https://www.nytimes.com/2026/06/03/science/nasa-maven-mars-orbiter.html

[2] https://science.slashdot.org/story/25/12/11/0026246/nasa-loses-contact-with-maven-mars-orbiter

[3] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4WALToxcMjo

[1]joshuark shares a report from The Verge:

> Apple will introduce [2]age verification in the App Store for users in Texas starting on Thursday, June 4th. The move, as [3]spotted by MacRumors , comes just days after a federal appeals court allowed Texas' App Store Accountability Act to go into effect while a lawsuit against it proceeds. People in Texas who are creating a new Apple account [4]will need to verify they're over 18 using a credit card or government ID. Apple may also automatically verify users' age using the age of their account and whether they have a credit card on file.

>

> Despite Apple's attempts to push back on app store-level age verification, the company has announced plans to implement age checks to comply with laws in places like Utah, Louisiana, Brazil, Australia, Singapore, and the UK. Google is required to make similar changes to the Play Store and is also introducing age-checking tools for developers. Last December, a judge blocked the App Store Accountability Act (SB 2420) from taking effect, but an appeals court has now reversed this decision -- at least while the court figures out whether the law is constitutional. Even if this law gets [5]struck down in Texas , a federal version with the same name is still making its way through Congress and could impose age verification at the app store nationwide.



[1] https://slashdot.org/~joshuark

[2] https://developer.apple.com/news/?id=sg176nne

[3] https://www.macrumors.com/2026/06/03/apple-app-store-texas-sb-2420/

[4] https://www.theverge.com/tech/942761/apple-texas-age-verification-app-store

[5] https://yro.slashdot.org/story/25/12/23/2235204/judge-blocks-texas-app-store-age-verification-law

[1]schwit1 shares a report from NJ.com:

> Samsung is pulling up stakes in New Jersey and heading to Texas, a move that [2]could leave roughly 1,000 Garden State workers facing a stark choice : relocate or risk losing their jobs. The South Korean tech giant [3]confirmed this week that it will move its US headquarters from Englewood Cliffs, NJ, to its existing campus in Plano, Texas, marking a stunning reversal less than a year after it celebrated the opening of a new headquarters in Bergen County. The relocation is expected to be completed by the end of the year, according to company statements.

"Samsung Electronics America Inc. is undergoing a business transformation designed to better position our organization for long-term growth and future success. As part of this effort, we are relocating our U.S. headquarters from New Jersey to our existing campus in Plano, Texas, building on our 30-year presence in the state," said Samsung in a statement emailed to NJ.com on Tuesday.

"As part of this strategy, we will be optimizing parts of the organization to ensure our roles and functions align to key business priorities. We recognize such adjustments will have an impact on our people and we will be providing support to those affected," it continued.



[1] https://slashdot.org/~schwit1

[2] https://www.nj.com/business/2026/06/tech-giant-leaving-nj-and-taking-1000-jobs-with-it.html

[3] https://x.com/SamMobiles/status/2061759573284077677

Amazon has reportedly [1]killed its planned new Stargate series despite giving it a series order in 2025. According to [2]Variety , studio executives were worried it would only appeal to longtime fans. ScreenRant reports:

> Reports of what became Gero's Stargate series started in 2022, after Amazon acquired MGM Studios. Dean Devlin, who co-wrote the 1994 Stargate movie with Emmerich, was another executive producer for the Amazon show, as were Joby Harold and Tory Tunnell via Safehouse Pictures. The project also had Brad Wright and Joe Mallozzi as consulting producers, with both having had extensive history working within the Stargate franchise.

>

> On X, [3]Michael Shanks , who played Daniel Jackson in Stargate SG-1, posted in response to the news that: "Yep. They did that." [4]Mallozzi was resistant to the idea that the series was being geared toward diehard fans: "Nope. No. Sorry. Gonna have to push back on this. We were ever mindful of creating a show that would have broad appeal." In an additional post, [5]Mallozzi went into further detail about why the cancellation is so disappointing:

>

> Before the new series was canceled by Amazon, Stargate began with Emmerich and Devlin's movie starring Kurt Russell and James Spader. This paved the way for 10 seasons of Stargate SG-1, followed by five seasons of Stargate Atlantis. There has also been the two-season Stargate Universe, the one-season animated show Stargate Infinity, the web miniseries Stargate Origins, and the 2008 direct-to-video movies Stargate: The Ark of Truth and Stargate Continuum, along with numerous games.



[1] https://screenrant.com/stargate-amazon-new-series-canceled/

[2] https://variety.com/2026/tv/news/stargate-tv-series-martin-gero-scrapped-amazon-1236765061/

[3] https://x.com/MichaelShanks/status/2061945289507000379

[4] https://x.com/BaronDestructo/status/2061982258710614387

[5] https://x.com/BaronDestructo/status/2061963285428330923

An anonymous reader quotes a report from Ars Technica:

> UK regulators today [1]ordered (PDF) Google to put clearer attributions and links to publishers' content in its AI-generated search features. The UK's Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) also said Google [2]must give publishers a way to opt out of AI features in search . "In a world first, publishers will now have effective tools to prevent their content being used to power AI features in search, such as AI Overviews," the CMA [3]said today . "This will put publishers, like news organizations, in a stronger position to negotiate content deals with Google. To boost consumer trust, Google is also now required to make sure that publisher content is properly attributed, using clear links, in AI-generated search results."

>

> The CMA ruled that Google may not penalize publishers for opting out of AI, meaning that Google can't downrank opted-out publishers in general search results. The CMA said Google will have nine months to comply with all requirements but that the agency "expects important parts of the controls to become available to publishers well before that deadline. Google will also be required to submit and publish compliance reports, supported by key data and metrics, explaining changes it has made and how it has complied." [...] The CMA applied the rules to Google after determining that it has "strategic market status" in general search services, and has ongoing investigations into Apple and Microsoft. Google today said it will comply with the CMA decision.

The News Media Association, a trade group in the UK, said that "the legally enforceable Conduct Requirements for Google Search published today are a significant step towards leveling the playing field and building a fair, transparent digital economy where premium content is properly respected and fairly compensated." The group called on the UK to implement "robust enforcement."



[1] https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/6a1f0098b95db968c8f3bdb9/Publisher_CR_final_decision.pdf

[2] https://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2026/06/google-ordered-to-put-clearer-links-in-ai-search-and-let-uk-publishers-opt-out/

[3] https://www.gov.uk/government/news/cma-secures-fairer-deal-for-publishers-and-improves-google-search-services-in-uk

An anonymous reader quotes a report from 404 Media:

> The secondary market for decades old, low-tech John Deere tractors has been booming for years as farmers have sought reliable tractors that they can actually fix without having to deal with John Deere's repair monopoly. A Canadian company has seen that demand and came up with a radical thought: What if they made a new, repairable, "no-tech" tractor to solve what has become a gigantic pain point for farmers? Alberta's Ursa Ag says that it has been inundated with demand after announcing its tractor, which [1]costs roughly half as much as a Deere and has the benefit of not being a repair nightmare .

>

> [...] Ursa Ag markets its tractors as "no frills" and "built to last." Ursa Ag's Doug Wilson told me that the company designed the tractor because of a need in the marketplace for a new machine that isn't loaded with tech and is easy to maintain. The company follows in the footsteps of consumer electronics companies like Fairphone, which makes a repairable smartphone and Framework, which makes modular, repairable laptops. The demand Ursa Ag has seen is part of the backlash to manufacturer repair monopolies and the injection of technology and internet-connected sensors and terms of use into even the most basic of gadgets. "I talk to farmers every day and I hear from farmers every day about how they went out and bought machinery from 1987 so that it wouldn't have a computer on it," Wilson said. "All of this came from a simple discussion with a customer who wanted to be able to turn [the tractor] on at the start of the day, to use it, and shut it off at the end of the day. It needed to work, so that's what we built."

>

> Ursa Ag's tractor has been hyped in agriculture circles after Wilson showed the tractor off at a Canadian farm show and it was featured by Farms.com. Wilson said more than a thousand farmers have contacted him after that show, from roughly 30 countries. "I got a handwritten letter from a farmer in France who doesn't own a computer and wanted us to mail him information about the tractors," he said. He said the company has thus far made a couple fewer than 100 tractors but is working on tripling its production capacity and has seen a lot of demand over the last few months.

"Given the number of my customers that carry flip phones, I would say there is consumer pressure to back away from some of the technology that is unnecessary to perform everyday tasks," Wilson said. "So that is definitely transferable to dishwashers and washing machines, refrigerators. Refrigerators that have screens on them that'll tell you what's inside. It's a little crazy."

"That high-tech stuff, the million-dollar John Deere tractor has a place. It has technology that is well worth the money," Wilson said. "But that technology is needed for 5 percent of what a farm does. There are so many applications for tractors on farms that don't require technology. The technology that goes into even a calculator is not required for most farming applications."



[1] https://www.404media.co/demand-is-booming-for-ursa-ag-new-no-tech-repairable-tractor/

[1]BrianFagioli writes:

> Fedora Linux 43 users upgrading to the latest Dovecot mail server discovered something rather unsettling: some older Microsoft Outlook configurations may have been [2]silently ignoring SSL/TLS settings for POP3 email connections for years . According to a Fedora community [3]blog post , affected Outlook clients reportedly continued using insecure port 110 connections even when encryption was enabled in the application settings. The issue surfaced after Dovecot 2.4 disabled plaintext authentication on non secure connections by default, causing Outlook users to suddenly lose mailbox access after the Fedora 43 upgrade.

>

> The report suggests the behavior may date back as far as Outlook 2007, although modern Outlook builds were not fully tested. Fedora admins stress that the problem could be limited to legacy account configurations rather than current versions of Outlook itself. Still, the discovery has sparked discussion among Linux admins and security folks because many users likely assumed their email traffic was encrypted simply because Outlook claimed SSL/TLS was enabled. The incident also highlights how stricter defaults in modern open source infrastructure can expose ancient assumptions and questionable behaviors that quietly survived for decades.



[1] https://slashdot.org/~BrianFagioli

[2] https://nerds.xyz/2026/06/fedora-43-outlook-security-bug/

[3] https://fedoramagazine.org/fedora-43-upgrade-revealed-20-years-old-outlook-security-bug/

Ancient Slashdot reader [1]whitroth shares a report from Politico, with the caption: " [2]shutting down Microsoft Office for the International Criminal Court (ICC) was clearly a wake-up call." From the report:

> The EU is moving to counter American dominance in technology by reaching for one of the oldest tools in its arsenal: industrial strategy. As the European Commission unveiled a plan Wednesday to reduce Europe's reliance on the foreign technology providers that underpin the modern economy, it was careful to stress that it was not picking a fight with U.S. digital giants. Instead, the tech sovereignty package -- motivated in no small part by U.S. President Donald Trump's weaponization of Europe's dependence on American firms -- takes a longer-term view: [3]boost the continent's players so they can eventually challenge their U.S. rivals .

>

> [...] If adopted, the package will direct public money toward products that contribute to Europe's economy and independence from foreign firms; cut red tape for data centers; beef up research and innovation through "leadership initiatives"; incentivize countries to share digital capacities in a new "Eurocloud" forum; and require EU governments to come up with national strategies to boost the adoption of cutting-edge tech, including AI. The package will also seek to ramp up the bloc's demand for advanced chips -- a response to criticism by the industry -- with a series of industrial initiatives to revise a 2023 chips law.

>

> [...] As part of its proposal to keep a list of trustworthy countries, the Commission would require EU governments to run a so-called "sovereignty risk assessment" for every digital service they rely on, measuring foreign control, potential access to sensitive data and the risk of operational disruption. Within a year, they would have to determine the appropriate level of protection for each public sector and procure digital services accordingly -- unless they can prove doing so would come at a "disproportionate cost," the proposal reads. However, the Commission reserves the right to overrule their assessment in future legislation if it believes they downplayed the risks. The Commission estimated that just one percent of Europe's public services are so sensitive that they would be required under the proposed certification scheme to rely on the strict level that totally excludes foreign technology.

"We cannot afford to depend on others for the technologies that keep our hospitals running, our energy grids stable and our services secure," Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said in a statement. "This is about protecting our citizens, defending our interests and making our own choices."



[1] https://slashdot.org/~whitroth

[2] https://news.slashdot.org/story/25/10/30/1847204/international-criminal-court-to-ditch-microsoft-office-for-european-open-source-alternative

[3] https://www.politico.eu/article/eu-plots-long-game-against-us-digital-supremacy/