Started in 1984, it's been described as the internet's longest-running contest. And yesterday 2025's International Obfuscated C Code Contest concluded — with [1]23 new winners announced in a [2]special four-and-a-half-hour livestreamed ceremony !

Programmers submitted their funniest programs showcasing C's unusual/obscure subtleties while having some fun. (And demonstrating the importance of clarity and style by setting some very bad examples...) Among this year's winners were an [3]OpenRISC 32-bit CPU emulator , a virtual machine capable of [4]running Doom , and some kind of [5]salmon recipe that makes clever use of C's [6]U"string" literal prefix ...

But yes, every entry's source code is ridiculously obfuscated. ("Before you set off on your adventure to decode this program's logic, make sure you have enough food, ammo, clothes, oxen, and programming supplies," read [7]the judge's remarks on the winner of this year's "diabolical logistics" prize. "You'll be driving for 2170 miles through a wild wilderness inspired by Oregon Trail...") And one entrant also struggled mightily in adapting a [8]rough port of their program's old Atari 2600 version , but was never gonna give it up...

Thanks to long-time Slashdot reader [9]achowe for bringing the news (who has submitted winning entries [10]in four different decades , starting in 1991 and continuing through 2024)...

Including a 2004 award for [11]the best abuse of the contest's guidelines . ("We are not exactly sure how many organisations will be upset with this entry, but we are considering starting an IOCCC standards body just to reign in the likes of Mr Howe....")



[1] https://www.ioccc.org/news.html

[2] https://www.youtube.com/live/UDzGwTalVAc?feature=shared

[3] https://www.ioccc.org/2024/macke/index.html

[4] https://www.ioccc.org/2024/kurdyukov3/index.html

[5] https://www.ioccc.org/2024/cable2/index.html

[6] https://en.cppreference.com/w/cpp/language/string_literal.html

[7] https://www.ioccc.org/2024/ferguson1/index.html

[8] https://www.ioccc.org/2024/weaver/index.html

[9] https://www.slashdot.org/~achowe

[10] https://www.ioccc.org/authors.html#Anthony_C_Howe

[11] https://www.ioccc.org/2004/hibachi/index.html

Slashdot reader [1]ffkom writes:

> The air around you mostly consists of nitrogen [ [2]78% ]. And in that air exist happy little monogamous pairs of two nitrogen atoms per molecule, also known as N2. Researchers from the University of Giessen, Germany, recently [3]managed to synthesize N6 molecules , "the first, to our knowledge, experimentally realized neutral molecular nitrogen allotrope beyond N2 that exhibits unexpected stability."

>

> And these appear to be pretty angry little molecules, as they detonate at more than twice the energy density than good old TNT:

>

> A kiloton of N6 is 1.19×10**7mol, which can release an energy of 2.20×109kcal (9.21terajoules) based on the enthalpy. Considering that the standard kiloton TNT equivalent is 4.184terajoules, N6 can release 2.2 times the energy of TNT of the same weight. On the basis of the [4]documented TNT equivalent based on weight for HMX (1.15) and RDX (1.15), N6 can release 1.9 times the energy of HMX or RDX with the same weight.

>

> In interviews the researchers contemplated the [5]possibility of using N6 as rocket fuel , given its superior energy density and that its reaction product is just N2, so basically air, but no smoke, no CO2 or other potentially harmful substances.



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

[2] https://climatekids.nasa.gov/10-things-air/

[3] https://www.nature.com/articles/s41586-025-09032-9

[4] https://pubs.aip.org/aip/jcp/article-abstract/87/10/5968/93966/Quadratic-configuration-interaction-A-general?redirectedFrom=fulltext

[5] https://www.acsh.org/news/2025/06/27/perfect-rocket-fuel-no-fires-no-chemicals-just-energy-49569

IBM's legendary Model M keyboard was sturdy and solid. But "What would happen if you took the classic layout and look of the Model M [1]and rebuilt it with modern mechanical guts ?" asks long-time Slashdot reader [2]uninet . Writing for the long-running tech blog Open for Business , they review a new wireless keyboard from Vortex that was clearly inspired by the Model M:

> The result is a unique keyboard with one foot in two different decades... Let's call it the Vortex M for simplicity's sake.

>

> I first became aware of it on a Facebook ad and was immediately fascinated. It looked so close to the original Model M, I wondered if someone else had gotten access to an original mold and was trying [3]Unicomp's game . No, they've just managed to copy the aesthetic to a nearly uncanny level... The Vortex M eschews the normal eye candy we expect on modern keyboards and attempts the closest duplication of IBM's staid early PC design sensibility I can imagine. Off-white, rugged and absolutely no frills of lighting. If you're looking for cutesy, forget it.

>

> The keyboard's casing has the same highly textured plastic that looks and feels instantly familiar to anyone who spent too many hours interacting with early PCs. Model M to a tee. The keycaps likewise look the part... The Vortex M looks like a Model M. Its build quality feels like a Model M. But one key press and it becomes clear this is a different beast. Underneath the Model M-styled skin, Vortex's keyboard is a very modern design — everything the Unicomp is not. For our test, Vortex provided a keyboard with Cherry MX Blues, the classic clicky option the company and I both thought would best match up against Model M's buckling springs...

>

> Vortex's product configurator offers a variety of common and less common Cherry and Gateron options, if you want to get a different sort of feel in lieu of the clicky I tested. This is possible with an MX switch-style keyboard and impossible with buckling springs with their one option of bold clicky . Not only can this be done when ordering, but also later on, thanks to hot swap switches that allow changes without soldering. Following the modern premium board theme, Vortex paired high end switches with a gasket mount and foam padding. The combination provides a solid feeling, sound dampened typing experience. Ironically, though, for a keyboard that apes the design of perhaps the loudest keyboard on the market today, the Vortex M is (relatively) quiet even with the clicky Blues on tap...

The review's highlights:

"The keyboard is exquisitely crafted to look like the IBM original... "

"The Vortex M supports connecting to three different devices via Bluetooth, along with a 2.4 GHz receiver and a USB Type-C wired connection. "

There's a full complement of media hot keys — "including an emoji key ala recent Macs. "

"For repetitive tasks, the keyboard is programmable with macros... And unlike Unicomp's boards, Vortex's can switch between PC and Mac layouts with the press of a hotkey."

The keyboard uses AA batteries rather than having a built-in rechargeable battery

The keyboard ultimately gave the reviewer some cognitive dissonance. "How am I typing on a Model M and not making a racket...?"

"Pricing varies based on options, but as tested, it clocked in at $154. That's the low end of the 'premium' market and this is an exceptional board for that price."



[1] https://reviews.ofb.biz/sa1337

[2] https://www.slashdot.org/~uninet

[3] https://hardware.slashdot.org/story/08/05/29/1334258/review-of-the-model-m-inspired-unicomp-customizer-keyboard

" [1]Did Craigslist drive the downfall of print classifieds ?" That's the question asked in a new article from the nonprofit Poynter Institute for Media Studies:

> "I've always wondered about that," Newmark said in a Zoom interview July 1. "I think it had an effect." But portraying him and the list as torpedoing an otherwise great business model is way overblown, he still believes. Citing [2]an influential essay by Thomas Baekdal , Newmark contends that the root of newspapers' trouble was the loss of readers. "TV hit hard. ... (And) l'm like the folks on 'CSI,' I follow the evidence. That goes back at least to the '60s."

>

> Bad in itself, the loss also took away newspapers' dominant share of local audiences and ability to charge premium classified ad rates. The slide in circulation looks even worse, Baekdal pointed out, when compared to continued increases in the number of households over the years.

>

> Still, Craigslist came to symbolize the shift. Dozens of other vertical digital sites cropped up, before and after, all offering a deadly competitive pairing of an effective and much cheaper service than newspaper classifieds. Even if Craigslist was just one of many, though, it was arguably Newmark who put a face on the massive disruption... By the early 2000s, newspaper executives had a dawning awareness of the business challenge from Craigslist and similar sites. They took minimal action to meet it...

>

> The biggest response was that three big companies — Knight-Ridder, Tribune and Gannett — bought a copycat of Monster called CareerBuilder... By the time newspapers acted, online classifieds had a full head of steam... By 2010, 70% of the newspaper industry's print classified business was gone. Reliable statistics are no longer kept, but the trend continued over the last 15 years... Newspapers continue to do well only with paid obituaries and legal notices, though the latter is now also under threat by digital startups.

The article cites a 2019 analysis from Peter Zollman, whose AIM Group consultancy has followed the classified business for 25 years. "Craigslist has often been blamed for killing newspapers, but that's a gross canard. It just isn't true."

> American newspapers stumbled while several well-managed counterparts in places like Scandinavia found ways to prosper, he argued.



[1] https://www.poynter.org/business-work/2025/did-craigslist-kill-newspapers-poynter-50/

[2] https://baekdal.com/monetization/the-updated-and-scary-circulation-and-revenue-figures-for-newspapers/

"Digital storefront Itch.io is reindexing its free adult games," [1]reports Engadget , "and is talking to its partnered payment processors about plans to gradually reintroduce paid NSFW content..."

> In [2]a statement included in the Itch.io update, Stripe said it hasn't closed the door on the possibility of being able to support adult content again in the future. In the meantime, Itch.io says it is talking to its other payment partners about accepting the card payments Stripe is currently no longer able to process.

Itch's founder [3]told the gaming news site Aftermath that it was a notice from Visa that led to the sudden deindexing of so many games. But Aftermath notes that Visa and Mastercard have now "both released statements effectively washing their hands of the situation but also, paradoxically, justifying any actions they might have taken."

- Visa: "When a legally operating merchant faces an elevated risk of illegal activity, we require enhanced safeguards for the banks supporting those merchants..."

- Mastercard: "Our payment network follows standards based on the rule of law. Put simply, we allow all lawful purchases on our network. At the same time, we require merchants to have appropriate controls to ensure Mastercard cards cannot be used for unlawful purchases, including illegal adult content."

Aftermath 's take?

> The part where the two companies act as though their hands have been tied by the long arm of the law is, frankly, bullshit. None of the games removed from Steam or Itch were illegal. They depict actions that are perfectly legal in other mediums. To re-quote Mike Stabile, director of policy at the Free Speech Coalition: "The stuff [companies] are talking about is entirely legal. It's legal to have in a book, it's legal to have in a game. They are making decisions based on their brand, based on public pressure from anti-porn groups, and that can be reversed."

Meanwhile, gamers are still pushing back:

> It's difficult to say just how many people have spent the past several days tying up the lines of card companies and payment processors, but the movement has made itself visible enough to gain support from larger industry bodies like the [4]Communications Workers of America [the [5]largest communications/media labor union in America] and the [6]International Game Developers Association .



[1] https://www.engadget.com/gaming/pc/itchio-starts-reindexing-free-nsfw-content-152431716.html

[2] https://itch.io/t/5149036/reindexing-adult-nsfw-content

[3] https://aftermath.site/steam-itch-porn-censorship-collective-shout-visa-mastercard-paypal

[4] https://bsky.app/profile/videogameworkers.bsky.social/post/3lv2foxkkac22

[5] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Communications_Workers_of_America

[6] https://www.gamesindustry.biz/igda-seriously-alarmed-by-recent-crackdown-on-nsfw-games

An anonymous reader shared [1]this report from Engadget :

> Nintendo sold 5.82 million [2]Switch 2s in less than four weeks and is on pace to hit its target of 15 million units by April 2026, the company said in its [3]latest earnings report . If that pans out, the Switch 2 would easily outsell the original Switch, which took a full year to hit that same 15 million sales number...

>

> Despite those superb sales figures, Nintendo says demand is outstripping supply in many regions and promises to boost production as soon as possible. There's some insight into Nintendo's available inventory elsewhere in the earnings report. The 5.82 million number counts sales up to June 30, and the company says that as of July 25, it had sold through "more than 6 million" consoles. That's not the clearest figure, but it definitely shows sales cratered in July despite consistent demand.

>

> Switch 2 software sales were also strong with 8.67 million units sold...

"Nintendo had a very good quarter, more than doubling revenue over last year..."



[1] https://www.engadget.com/gaming/nintendo/nintendo-has-sold-over-6-million-switch-2s-but-still-cant-keep-up-with-demand-120011674.html

[2] https://www.engadget.com/gaming/nintendo/nintendo-switch-2-review-more-of-what-you-love-120048430.html

[3] https://www.nintendo.co.jp/ir/pdf/2025/250801_2e.pdf

America's nonprofit [1]College Board lets high school students take college-level classes — including a computer programming course that culminates with [2]a 90-minute test . But students did better on questions about If-Then statements than they did on questions about arrays, according to the head of the program. Long-time Slashdot reader [3]theodp explains:

> Students exhibited "strong performance on primitive types, Boolean expressions, and If statements; 44% of students earned 7-8 of these 8 points," says program head Trevor Packard. But students were challenged by "questions on Arrays, ArrayLists, and 2D Arrays; 17% of students earned 11-12 of these 12 points."

>

> "The most challenging AP Computer Science A free-response question was [4]#4, the 2D array number puzzle ; 19% of students earned 8-9 of the 9 points possible."

You can [5]see that question here . ("You will write the constructor and one method of the SumOrSameGame class... Array elements are initialized with random integers between 1 and 9, inclusive, each with an equal chance of being assigned to each element of puzzle...") Although to be fair, it was the last question on the test — appearing on page 16 — so maybe some students just didn't get to it.

[6]theodp shares a sample [7]Java solution and one in [8]Excel VBA solution (which includes a visual presentation).

There's tests in 38 subjects — but CS and Statistics are the subjects where the highest number of students [9]earned the test's lowest-possible score (1 out of 5). That end of the graph also includes notoriously difficult subjects like Latin, Japanese Language, and Physics.

There's also a [10]table showing scores for the last 23 years , with fewer than 67% of students achieving a passing grade (3+) for the first 11 years. But in 2013 and 2017, more than 67% of students achieved that passsing grade, and the percentage has stayed above that line ever since (except for 2021), vascillating between 67% and 70.4%.

2018: 67.8%

2019: 69.6%

2020: 70.4%

2021: 65.1%

2022: 67.6%

2023: 68.0%

2024: 67.2%

2025: 67.0%



[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/College_Board

[2] https://apcentral.collegeboard.org/media/pdf/ap25-frq-computer-science-a.pdf

[3] https://www.slashdot.org/~theodp

[4] https://apcentral.collegeboard.org/media/pdf/ap25-frq-computer-science-a.pdf#page=16

[5] https://apcentral.collegeboard.org/media/pdf/ap25-frq-computer-science-a.pdf#page=16

[6] https://www.slashdot.org/~theodp

[7] https://www.apluscompsci.com/Tips_On_The_AP_FR_25.pdf#page=44

[8] https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/54694475507_334479d81f_b.jpg

[9] https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/54695513398_de31dc1781_b.jpg

[10] https://apstudents.collegeboard.org/about-ap-scores/score-distributions/ap-computer-science-a

Microsoft's AI coding assistant "GitHub Copilot" has now had 20 million "all-time users," [1]a GitHub spokesperson told TechCrunch .

> That means 5 million people have tried out GitHub Copilot for the first time in the last three months — the company reported in April the tool [2]had reached 15 million users .

>

> Microsoft and GitHub don't report how many of these 20 million people have continued to use the AI coding tool on a monthly or daily basis — though those metrics are likely far lower.

>

> Microsoft also reported that GitHub Copilot, which is among the most popular AI coding tools offered today, is used by 90% of the Fortune 100. The product's growth among enterprise customers has also grown about 75% compared to last quarter, according to the company... In 2024, Nadella said GitHub Copilot was [3]a larger business than all of GitHub was when Microsoft acquired it in 2018. In the year since, it seems GitHub Copilot's growth rate has continued in a positive direction.



[1] https://techcrunch.com/2025/07/30/github-copilot-crosses-20-million-all-time-users/

[2] https://www.thurrott.com/dev/320356/github-copilot-has-over-15-million-users

[3] https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/investor/events/fy-2024/earnings-fy-2024-q4

The Chinese government "has embarked on an all-out drive to transform the technology from a remote concept to a newfangled reality, with applications on factory floors and in hospitals and government offices..." [1]reports the Washington Post .

"[E]xperts say Beijing is pursuing an alternative playbook in an attempt to bridge the gap" with America: "aggressively pushing for the adoption of AI across the government and private sector."

> DeepSeek has been put to work over the last six months on a wide variety of government tasks. Procurement documents show military hospitals in Shaanxi and Guangxi provinces specifically requesting DeepSeek to build online consultation and health record systems. Local government websites describe state organs using DeepSeek for things like diverting calls from the public and streamlining police work. DeepSeek helps "quickly discover case clues and predict crime trends," which "greatly improves the accuracy and timeliness of crime fighting," a city government in China's Inner Mongolia region explained in a February social media post. Anti-corruption investigations — long a priority for Chinese leader Xi Jinping — are another frequent DeepSeek application, in which models are deployed to comb through dry spreadsheets to find suspicious irregularities. In April, China's main anti-graft agency even included a book called "Efficiently Using DeepSeek" on its official book recommendation list...

>

> Alfred Wu, an expert on China's public governance at the National University of Singapore, said Beijing has disseminated a "top-down" directive to local governments to use AI. This is motivated, Wu said, by a desire to improve China's AI prowess amid a fierce rivalry with Washington by providing models access to vast stores of government data.

>

> But not everyone is convinced that China has the winning hand, even as it attempts to push AI application nationwide. For one, China's sluggish economy will impact the AI industry's ability to grow and access funding, said Scott Singer [an expert on China's AI sector at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, who was attending the conference]... Others point out that local governments trumpeting their usage of DeepSeek is more about signaling than real technology uptake. Shen Yang, a professor at Tsinghua University's school of artificial intelligence, said DeepSeek is not being used at scale in anti-corruption work, for example, because the cases involve sensitive information and deploying new tools in these investigations requires long and complex approval processes.



[1] https://www.yahoo.com/news/articles/china-betting-real-world-ai-143606335.html

India's national university ranking will [1]start penalizing institutions if a sizable number of papers published by their researchers are retracted -- a first for an institutional ranking system. Nature:

> The move is an attempt by the government to address the country's [2]growing number of retractions due to misconduct. Many retractions correct honest mistakes in the literature, but others arise because of misconduct.

>

> India has had more papers retracted than any country apart from China and the United States, according to an analysis of the public database maintained by Retraction Watch of retractions over the past three decades. But whereas less than 1 paper is retracted for every 1,000 papers published in the United States, more than 3 are retracted for every 1,000 published in China, and the figure is 2 per 1,000 in India. The majority in India and China are withdrawn because of misconduct or research-integrity concerns.



[1] https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-025-02364-6

[2] https://science.slashdot.org/story/25/02/20/1230236/research-reveals-data-on-which-institutions-are-retraction-hotspots

An anonymous reader shares a report:

> Yesterday, when Epic [1]won its Google antitrust lawsuit for a second time, it wasn't quite clear how soon Google would need to start dismantling its affirmed illegal monopoly.

>

> Today, Google admits the answer is: [2]14 days . Google has just 14 days to enact major changes to its Google Play app store, and the way it does business with phonemakers, cellular carriers, and app developers, unless it wins an emergency stay (pause) from the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals as it continues to appeal. It must stop forcing apps to use Google Play Billing, allow app developers to freely steer their users to other platforms, and limit the perks it can offer in exchange for preinstalled apps, among other changes.



[1] https://tech.slashdot.org/story/25/07/31/1846249/google-loses-epic-games-appeal-must-open-app-store-to-rivals

[2] https://www.theverge.com/news/717440/google-epic-open-play-store-emergency-stay

An anonymous reader shares a report:

> Apple CEO Tim Cook [1]appears unfazed by concerns that advancements in AI could topple the iPhone's dominance. During Thursday's earnings call, Wamsi Moen, an analyst with Bank of America, asked Cook directly how Apple is preparing for a world where dependence on screen-based devices "significantly diminishes," thanks to advances in AI. Cook didn't seem to see an imminent threat to Apple's hero product.

>

> "When you when you think about all the things an iPhone can do, from connecting people to bringing app and game experiences to life, to taking photos and videos, to helping users explore the world and conduct their financial lives and pay for things and so much more, you know, it's difficult to see a world where iPhone's not living in it," Cook said. "And that doesn't mean that we are not thinking about other things as well," Cook added, "but I think that the devices are likely to be complementary devices, not substitution."

Apple said yesterday it had sold 3 billion iPhones since the product's launch in 2007



[1] https://www.businessinsider.com/apple-tim-cook-worried-artificial-intelligence-replace-iphone-2025-7

A Brussels court has issued an unusually broad site-blocking [1]order targeting Internet Archive's Open Library alongside shadow libraries including Anna's Archive, Libgen, and Z-Library. The order, requested by publishing and author organizations, directs an unprecedented range of intermediaries to take action beyond traditional ISP blocks.

Search engines, DNS resolvers, advertisers, domain name services, CDNs, hosting companies, and payment processors -- including Google, Microsoft, Cloudflare, Amazon Web Services, PayPal, and Starlink -- must restrict access to the targeted sites. The court found "clear and significant infringement" in the ex parte proceeding.



[1] https://torrentfreak.com/belgium-bans-internet-archives-open-library-in-sweeping-site-blocking-order/

[1]BrianFagioli writes:

> Google is [2]changing its mind about killing off all goo.gl short links . The company had originally planned to [3]shut them down entirely by August 25, 2025 . That decision sparked concern among developers, educators, journalists, and everyday users who rely on these links across the web.

>

> Now, just weeks before the deadline, Google is taking a softer approach. It turns out the company is only going to disable goo.gl links that haven't seen any activity since late 2024. If your link is still being used or clicked, it should keep working. This adjustment comes after what Google describes as community feedback.



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

[2] https://nerds.xyz/2025/08/google-googl-shutdown-reversal/

[3] https://tech.slashdot.org/story/25/07/24/2012243/google-url-shortener-links-will-stop-working-next-month

Verizon has confirmed it will [1]raise customer fees despite announcing a three-year price lock in April. The carrier said the "vast majority" of customers will see increases of "less than 30 cents." A Reddit thread cited by The Verge suggests the Administrative and Telco Recovery Charge will rise 28 cents to $3.78 per voice line, while data-only plan charges could increase $2.37 to $3.97 per line. The changes may take effect September 1.



[1] https://www.theverge.com/news/717506/verizon-fee-price-increase-administrative-charge

Major video game publishers have [1]abandoned plans to [2]sell new releases at $80 after initially signaling support for the elevated price point earlier this year, according to Bloomberg. Microsoft reversed course in late July, announcing The Outer Worlds 2 and other holiday titles including Call of Duty will sell for $70 instead of the previously planned $80.

Take-Two Interactive's Borderlands 4 and Sony's Ghost of Yotei were also priced at $70 after initial $80 expectations. Electronic Arts said it will not adjust prices for the near future, with the upcoming Battlefield 6 selling for $70. Production costs have grown tenfold over the past decade while sales have not increased proportionally.



[1] https://www.bloomberg.com/news/newsletters/2025-08-01/the-industry-s-rush-to-80-video-games-has-stalled-for-now

[2] https://games.slashdot.org/story/25/05/05/073207/budget-titles-dominate-2025s-top-rated-games-as-aaa-prices-climb-to-80

Microsoft researchers have [1]identified 40 occupations [PDF] with [2]the highest exposure to AI , ranking jobs by how closely their tasks align with AI's current capabilities. The study analyzed 200,000 real-world conversations from Copilot users and compared AI performance against occupational data.

Interpreters and translators top the list, followed by historians and passenger attendants. Customer service and sales representatives, comprising about 5 million U.S. jobs, also face significant AI competition. Knowledge workers performing computer, math, or administrative tasks showed high vulnerability, as did sales positions involving information sharing and explanation. The research found occupations requiring Bachelor's degrees demonstrate higher AI applicability than those with lower educational requirements.

First, the top 10 least affected occupations by generative AI:

> 1. Dredge Operators

> 2. Bridge and Lock Tenders

> 3. Water Treatment Plant and System Operators

> 4. Foundry Mold and Coremakers

> 5. Rail-Track Laying and Maintenance Equipment Operators

> 6. Pile Driver Operators

> 7. Floor Sanders and Finishers

> 8. Orderlies

> 9. Motorboat Operators

> 10. Logging Equipment Operators

Now, the top 40 most affected occupations by generative AI:

> 1. Interpreters and Translators

> 2. Historians

> 3. Passenger Attendants

> 4. Sales Representatives of Services

> 5. Writers and Authors

> 6. Customer Service Representatives

> 7. CNC Tool Programmers

> 8. Telephone Operators

> 9. Ticket Agents and Travel Clerks

> 10. Broadcast Announcers and Radio DJs

> 11. Brokerage Clerks

> 12. Farm and Home Management Educators

> 13. Telemarketers

> 14. Concierges

> 15. Political Scientists

> 16. News Analysts, Reporters, Journalists

> 17. Mathematicians

> 18. Technical Writers

> 19. Proofreaders and Copy Markers

> 20. Hosts and Hostesses

> 21. Editors

> 22. Business Teachers, Postsecondary

> 23. Public Relations Specialists

> 24. Demonstrators and Product Promoters

> 25. Advertising Sales Agents

> 26. New Accounts Clerks

> 27. Statistical Assistants

> 28. Counter and Rental Clerks

> 29. Data Scientists

> 30. Personal Financial Advisors

> 31. Archivists

> 32. Economics Teachers, Postsecondary

> 33. Web Developers

> 34. Management Analysts

> 35. Geographers

> 36. Models

> 37. Market Research Analysts

> 38. Public Safety Telecommunicators

> 39. Switchboard Operators

> 40. Library Science Teachers, Postsecondary.



[1] https://arxiv.org/pdf/2507.07935

[2] https://fortune.com/2025/07/31/microsoft-research-generative-ai-occupational-impact-jobs-most-and-least-likely-to-impact-teaching-office-jobs-college-gen-z-grads/

Financial Times:

> The UK's highest court has [1]partially overturned a landmark motor finance judgment that threatened to leave banks on the hook for tens of billions of pounds in compensation for allegedly deceiving consumers with hidden commissions on car loans.

>

> The Supreme Court's decision has been keenly awaited by investors as well as millions of consumers who were poised to claim redress from the banks. The government has been considering legislation to limit the fallout. The controversy over car finance shot to prominence after a bombshell Court of Appeal judgment in October that awarded compensation to three people who claimed they were misled by banks concealing the payment of commissions to dealerships.

The $58.3 billion car finance scandal centers on hidden commissions paid by lenders to car dealers who arranged loans without disclosing the payment amounts and terms to borrowers. Under discretionary commission arrangements, dealers received larger payments when they persuaded car buyers to accept higher interest rates on loans. The practice affected roughly 90% of new car purchases and many secondhand vehicles, potentially exposing millions of motorists to mis-selling.



[1] https://www.ft.com/content/70841d98-75cd-4ccc-a1eb-6f3b5751c296

Internal Revenue Service Commissioner Bill Long said the agency [1]will end its Direct File program after a limited pilot and one full filing season. From a report:

> President Donald Trump's massive spending and policy bill includes funding to research and "replace any direct e-file programs run by the Internal Revenue Service."

>

> Already, the program is "gone," Long said at a tax professional summit on July 28, Bloomberg Law reports. "You've heard of Direct File, that's gone," Long said. "Big beautiful Billy wiped that out. I don't care about Direct File. I care about direct audit."



[1] https://www.cnbc.com/2025/07/30/irs-chief-says-agency-plans-to-end-free-direct-file-program.html

Microsoft has [1]discontinued Windows 11 SE , its education-focused operating system designed for low-cost school PCs. The company confirmed that Windows 11 SE will not receive the upcoming version 25H2 update and support will end in October 2026, including security updates and technical assistance.

Launched in 2021 [2]as a Chrome OS competitor , Windows 11 SE featured artificial limitations like reduced multitasking capabilities and restricted app installation to create a simplified experience for students. The discontinuation leaves Microsoft without a dedicated lightweight Windows edition for the education market, where Chromebooks have gained significant popularity over the past decade.



[1] https://www.windowscentral.com/microsoft/windows-11/windows-11-se-is-dead-microsoft-pulls-plug-on-special-school-edition-of-windows-for-low-cost-pcs

[2] https://hardware.slashdot.org/story/21/11/11/229209/windows-11-se-wont-be-sold-separately-cant-be-reinstalled-once-removed