Dustin Moskovitz, CEO and co-founder of Asana, is [1]stepping down and will [2]transition to the role of Chair once a new CEO is appointed . "As I reflect on my journey since co-founding Asana nearly 17 years ago, I'm filled with immense gratitude," Moskovitz said in a statement. "Creating and leading Asana has been more than just building a company -- it's been a profound privilege to work alongside some of the most talented minds in the industry." Asana's stock price was down more than 25% following the news. CNBC reports:

> Asana said fourth-quarter sales rose 10% year over year to $188.3 million, which was in line with analysts' estimates. The company said its adjusted earnings per share was breakeven, ahead of analysts' estimates of a loss of one cent per share. Asana said it expects fiscal first-quarter revenue of $184.5 million to $186.5 million, trailing analysts' expectations of $191 million.

>

> Moskovitz owns about 53% of the company's outstanding shares, between his Class A and Class B holdings. He has substantially increased his ownership since the company's public market debut in 2020. [...] Moskovitz said in his Monday retirement statement that he plans to focus more on his philanthropic endeavors, such as Good Ventures and Open Philanthropy, which cites "potential risks from advanced AI" among its various focus areas. In 2010, Moskovitz signed the Giving Pledge, a promise by some of the wealthiest people in the world to donate most of their fortunes to charity.



[1] https://investors.asana.com/news-releases/news-release-details/asana-announces-ceo-succession-plan#:~:text=Moskovitz%20will%20remain%20CEO%20until,m%20filled%20with%20immense%20gratitude

[2] https://www.cnbc.com/2025/03/10/asana-ceo-dustin-moskovitz-announces-retirement-stock-price-drops-25percent.html

An anonymous reader quotes a report from TechCrunch:

> When Bluesky CEO Jay Graber walked on stage at SXSW 2025 for [1]her keynote discussion , she wore a large black T-shirt with her hair pulled back into a bun. At first glance, it might appear as though she's following the same playbook that so many women in tech leadership have played before: downplaying her femininity to be taken seriously. The truth is way more interesting than that. What might look like your average black T-shirt is a [2]subtle, yet clear swipe at Mark Zuckerberg , a CEO who represents everything that Bluesky is trying to work against as an open source social network.

>

> The Meta founder and CEO has directly compared himself to the Roman emperor Julius Caesar. His own shirt declared Aut Zuck aut nihil, which is a play on the Latin phrase aut Caesar aut nihil: "Either Caesar or nothing." Graber's shirt -- which directly copies the style of a shirt that Zuckerberg wore onstage recently -- says Mundus sine caesaribus. Or, "a world without Caesars." With the way Bluesky is designed, Graber is certainly putting her money where her mouth (or shirt) is. As a decentralized social network built upon an open source framework, Bluesky differs from legacy platforms like Facebook in that users have a direct, transparent window into how the platform is being built.

"If a billionaire came in and bought Bluesky, or took it over, or if I decided tomorrow to change things in a way that people really didn't like, then they could fork off and go on to another application," Graber explained at SXSW. "There's already applications in the network that give you another way to view the network, or you could build a new one as well. And so that openness guarantees that there's always the ability to move to a new alternative."



[1] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B7OwcXCE5Rg

[2] https://techcrunch.com/2025/03/10/at-sxsw-bluesky-ceo-jay-graber-pokes-fun-at-mark-zuckerberg-with-latin-phrase-t-shirt/

Internet shutdowns in Africa [1]hit a record high in 2024 , with 21 shutdowns across 15 countries. The previous record was 19 shutdowns in 2020 and 21. The Guardian reports:

> Authorities in Comoros, Guinea-Bissau and Mauritius joined repeat offenders such as Burundi, Ethiopia, Equatorial Guinea and Kenya. Guinea, Nigeria, Senegal and Tanzania were also on the list. But perpetrators also included militias and other non-state actors. Telecommunication and internet service providers who shut services based on government orders are also complicit in violating people's rights, said Felicia Anthonio, the #KeepItOn campaign manager at Access Now, citing the [2]UN guiding principles on business and human rights .

>

> The details showed that most of the shutdowns were imposed as a response to conflicts, protests and political instability. There were also restrictions during elections. [...] At least five shutdowns in Africa had been imposed for more than a year by the end of 2024, according to Access Now. As of early 2025, the social network Meta was still restricted in Uganda, despite authorities engaging with its representatives. On the Equatorial Guinean island of Annobon, internet and cell services have been cut off since an August 2024 protest over environmental concerns and isolation from the rest of the country. The increase in shutdowns led the African Commission on Human and Peoples' Rights to pass a landmark resolution in March 2024 to help reverse the trend.



[1] https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2025/mar/09/internet-shutdowns-record-high-africa-2024-access-weaponised

[2] https://www.business-humanrights.org/en/big-issues/governing-business-human-rights/un-guiding-principles/

Today marks the release of Framework Mono 6.14, the [1]first major Mono release in five years and the first [2]under WineHQ's stewardship . This update includes long-awaited improvements such as native macOS ARM64 support, enhancements to System.Windows.Forms for X11, better COM interface support, and various stability fixes. Phoronix reports:

> In addition to the native macOS ARM64 support and System.Windows.Forms improvements for X11, some of the other Mono 6.14 improvements carried out over the past half-decade include improved support for generated COM interfaces, many warning fixes, addressing common cases where processes would hang on exit, and more.

>

> As for the "Framework Mono" name rather than just Mono, the release announcement explains: "Framework Mono is the project previously hosted at https://github.com/mono/mono, which was then simply called Mono. I have made this change to distinguish it from 'monovm' and 'Wine Mono', which are different projects. Framework Mono is a cross-platform runtime compatible with .NET Framework."

You can download and learn more about the release [3]here .



[1] https://www.phoronix.com/news/Wine-Framework-Mono-6.14

[2] https://tech.slashdot.org/story/24/08/27/2043216/microsoft-donates-the-mono-project-to-wine

[3] https://gitlab.winehq.org/mono/mono/-/releases/mono-6.14.0

Sony is working on a prototype AI-powered version of at least one its PlayStation game characters. The Verge:

> An anonymous tipster has shared an internal video from Sony's PlayStation group with The Verge that demonstrates an AI-powered version of Aloy from Horizon Forbidden West. The video is narrated by Sharwin Raghoebardajal, a director of software engineering at Sony Interactive Entertainment who works on video game technology, AI, computer vision, and face technology for Sony's PlayStation Studios Advanced Technology Group.

>

> Raghoebardajal demonstrates an AI-powered version of Aloy that can [1]hold a conversation with a player through voice prompts during gameplay. Aloy can be seen responding to queries with an AI-powered synthesized voice and facial movements, both in a demo setting and within the full Horizon Forbidden West game. Raghoebardajal makes it clear this is just a prototype that has been developed alongside Guerrilla Games to demonstrate the technology internally at Sony.



[1] https://www.theverge.com/news/626695/sony-playstation-ai-characters-aloy-horizon-forbidden-west-prototype

Apple has [1]pulled an iPhone 16 ad featuring a "more personal Siri" after [2]delaying Apple Intelligence features originally planned for iOS 18. The now-private video starred actor Isabella Ramsey demonstrating contextual awareness capabilities. Apple stated the delayed features, including personal context and improved app integration, will release "in the coming year," while Bloomberg reports some Apple AI staff believe these features might be completely rebuilt.



[1] https://www.macrumors.com/2025/03/10/apple-pulls-iphone-16-ad-more-personal-siri/

[2] https://apple.slashdot.org/story/25/03/07/1833202/apple-delays-more-personalized-siri-apple-intelligence-features

An anonymous reader quotes a report from Ars Technica:

> HP, along with other printer brands, is infamous for issuing firmware updates that brick already-purchased printers that have tried to use third-party ink. In a new form of frustration, HP is now being accused of [1]issuing a firmware update that broke customers' laser printers -- even though the devices are loaded with HP-brand toner. The firmware update in question is version 20250209, which HP issued on March 4 for its LaserJet MFP M232-M237 models. Per HP, the update includes "security updates," a "regulatory requirement update," "general improvements and bug fixes," and fixes for [2]IPP Everywhere . Looking back to older updates' fixes and changes, which the new update includes, doesn't reveal anything out of the ordinary. The older updates mention things like "fixed print quality to ensure borders are not cropped for certain document types," and "improved firmware update and cartridge rejection experiences." But there's no mention of changes to how the printers use or read toner.

>

> However, users have been [3]reporting sudden problems using HP-brand toner in their M232-M237 series printers since their devices updated to 20250209. Users on HP's support forum say they see Error Code 11 and the hardware's toner light flashing when trying to print. Some said they've cleaned the contacts and reinstalled their toner but still can't print. "Insanely frustrating because it's my small business printer and just stopped working out of nowhere[,] and I even replaced the tone[r,] which was a $60 expense," a forum user [4]wrote on March 8.

HP said in a statement: "We are aware of a firmware issue affecting a limited number of HP LaserJet 200 Series devices and our team is actively working on a solution. For assistance, affected customers can contact our support team at: https://support.hp.com." It's unclear how widespread the problems are.



[1] https://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2025/03/firmware-update-bricks-hp-printers-makes-them-unable-to-use-hp-cartridges/

[2] https://www.pwg.org/ipp/everywhere.html

[3] https://h30434.www3.hp.com/t5/Printing-Errors-or-Lights-Stuck-Print-Jobs/Error-Code-11/td-p/9333546

[4] https://h30434.www3.hp.com/t5/Printing-Errors-or-Lights-Stuck-Print-Jobs/Laserjet-m234DW-Error-11/td-p/9332462

A 55-year-old software developer faces up to 10 years in prison after being convicted for deploying malicious code that [1]sabotaged his former employer's network , causing hundreds of thousands of dollars in losses.

Davis Lu was convicted by a jury for causing intentional damage to protected computers owned by power management company Eaton Corp., the US Department of Justice announced Friday. Lu, who worked at Eaton for 11 years, became disgruntled after a 2018 corporate "realignment" reduced his responsibilities.

He created malicious code that deleted coworker profile files, prevented logins, and caused system crashes. His most destructive creation was a "kill switch" named "IsDLEnabledinAD" that automatically activated upon his termination in 2019, disrupting Eaton's global operations. Lu admitted to creating some malicious code but plans to appeal the verdict.



[1] https://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2025/03/fired-coder-faces-10-years-for-revenge-kill-switch-he-named-after-himself/

Microsoft plans to launch an Xbox-branded gaming handheld [1]later in 2025 through partnership with a PC gaming manufacturer, followed by next-generation Xbox consoles targeting 2027, according to WindowsCentral. The handheld device, codenamed "Keenan," will run full Windows with Microsoft Store and PC Game Pass integration, featuring distinct Xbox design elements including an official guide button.

Microsoft is expected to use the device to test new Windows 11 "device aware" capabilities while reducing typical OEM bloatware. The next-generation Xbox console plans include a premium successor to Xbox Series X alongside Microsoft's own gaming handheld and new controller options with direct-to-cloud connectivity, the report said. These consoles will reportedly operate closer to Windows architecture, reducing developer porting workloads while maintaining backwards compatibility with legacy Xbox games.



[1] https://www.windowscentral.com/gaming/xbox/xbox-hardware-report-project-keenan-next-gen-xbox-2027

An anonymous reader [1]shares a Nature story :

> In March last year, researchers found that among a group of nearly 300 participants, people who had higher concentrations of plastics in deposits of fat in their arteries (arterial plaques) were more likely to experience heart attacks or strokes, and more likely to die as a result, than those in whom plastics were not detected. Since it was published, the New England Journal of Medicine study has been mentioned more than 6,600 times on social media and more than 800 times in news articles and blogs.

>

> The issue of whether plastics are entering human tissues and what impacts they might have on health is understandably of great interest to scientists, industry and society. Indeed, for the past few years there have been news stories almost every month about peer-reviewed articles that have reported findings of plastic particles in all sorts of human tissues and bodily fluids -- including the lungs, heart, penis, placenta and breast milk. And in multiple countries, policymakers are being urged to implement measures to limit people's exposure to nanoplastics and microplastics.

>

> Many of the studies conducted so far, however, rely on small sample sizes (typically 20-50 samples) and lack appropriate controls. Modern laboratories are themselves hotspots of nanoplastic and microplastic pollution, and the approaches that are being used to detect plastics make it hard to rule out the possibility of contamination, or prove definitively that plastics are in a sample. Also, many findings are not biologically plausible based on what is known -- mainly from nanomedicine -- about the movement of tiny particles within the human body.

>

> For an emerging area of research, such problems are unsurprising. But without more rigorous standards, transparency and collaboration -- among researchers, policymakers and industrial stakeholders -- a cycle of misinformation and ineffective regulation could undermine efforts to protect both human health and the environment.



[1] https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-025-00702-2

The US will be [1]"central" to solving the climate crisis despite Donald Trump's withdrawal of government support and cash, the president of the next UN climate summit has said. From a report:

> Andre Correa do Lago, president-designate of the Cop30 summit for the host country, Brazil, hinted that businesses and other organisations in the US could play a constructive role without the White House. "We have no idea of ignoring the US," he told journalists on a call on Friday. "The US is a key country in this exercise. There is the US government, which will limit its participation [but] the US is a country with such amazing technology, amazing innovation -- this is the US that can contribute. The US is a central country for these discussions and solutions."

>

> Brazil has also vowed to hold an "ethical stocktake" aimed at examining climate justice issues, for poor and vulnerable people, and to give Indigenous people a key role at the talks. Correa do Lago wrote to all UN countries on Monday, setting out Brazil's expectations that all governments will draw up national plans for steep cuts in greenhouse gas emissions before the conference starts in Belem, a rainforest city at the mouth of the Amazon, in November.



[1] https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2025/mar/10/us-central-climate-fight-without-trump-cop30-president-andre-correa-do-lago

Sony has [1]removed more than 75,000 AI-generated deepfake songs mimicking artists including Harry Styles and Beyonce from online platforms, the company revealed in a submission to the UK government, adding this likely represents just a fraction of fake songs circulating online.

The proliferation of these unauthorized AI replicas has caused "direct commercial harm to legitimate recording artists, including UK artists," Sony stated. The company's intervention comes as Britain considers new copyright legislation that would permit AI companies to train models using artist material, a proposal that would require rights holders to opt out rather than requiring permission.



[1] https://gizmodo.com/sony-says-it-has-already-taken-down-more-than-75000-ai-deepfake-songs-2000573829

Microsoft has spotted a malvertising campaign that downloaded nastyware hosted on GitHub and [1]exposed nearly a million devices to information thieves . From a report:

> Discovered by Microsoft Threat Intelligence late last year, the campaign saw pirate vid-streaming websites embed malvertising redirectors to generate pay-per-view or pay-per-click revenue from malvertising platforms. "These redirectors subsequently routed traffic through one or two additional malicious redirectors, ultimately leading to another website, such as a malware or tech support scam website, which then redirected to GitHub" according to Microsoft's threat research team.

>

> GitHub hosted a first-stage payload that installed code that dropped two other payloads. One gathered system configuration info such as data on memory size, graphics capabilities, screen resolution, the operating system present, and user paths. Third-stage payloads varied but most "conducted additional malicious activities such as command and control (C2) to download additional files and to exfiltrate data, as well as defense evasion techniques."



[1] https://www.theregister.com/2025/03/10/infosec_in_brief/

[1]AmiMoJo writes:

> In September 2023, KrebsOnSecurity [2]published findings from security researchers who concluded that a series of six-figure cyberheists across dozens of victims resulted from thieves cracking master passwords stolen from the password manager service [3]LastPass in 2022 . In a court filing last week, U.S. federal agents investigating a spectacular $150 million cryptocurrency heist said [4]they had reached the same conclusion .

>

> On March 6, federal prosecutors in northern California said they seized approximately $24 million worth of cryptocurrencies that were clawed back following a $150 million cyberheist on Jan. 30, 2024. The complaint refers to the person robbed only as 'Victim-1,' but according to blockchain security researcher ZachXBT the theft was perpetrated against Chris Larsen, the co-founder of the cryptocurrency platform Ripple.

>

> ZachXBT was the first to report on the heist, of which approximately $24 million was frozen by the feds before it could be withdrawn. This week's action by the government merely allows investigators to officially seize the frozen funds. But there is an important conclusion in this seizure document: It basically says the U.S. Secret Service and the FBI agree with the findings of the LastPass breach story published here in September 2023.



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

[2] https://krebsonsecurity.com/2023/09/experts-fear-crooks-are-cracking-keys-stolen-in-lastpass-breach/

[3] https://tech.slashdot.org/story/22/08/26/1725223/lastpass-hackers-stole-source-code

[4] https://krebsonsecurity.com/2025/03/feds-link-150m-cyberheist-to-2022-lastpass-hacks/

[1]smooth wombat writes:

> In what can only be described as a no-brainer, Volkswagen has announced it will have once again [2]have physical buttons in all its vehicles . As Andreas Mindt, design chief at the company said, removing buttons was "a mistake".

>

> "From the ID 2all onwards, we will have physical buttons for the five most important functions -- the volume, the heating on each side of the car, the fans and the hazard light -- below the screen," he explained, adding: "It's not a phone: it's a car."

>

> This doesn't mean touch screens are set to disappear on new Volkswagens, just that drivers will now have the option of physical controls for their most used day-to-day tasks. The new controls are set to make their debut in the ID.2all, a small, budget EV set to debut in Europe.



[1] https://slashdot.org/~smooth+wombat

[2] https://www.pcmag.com/news/volkswagen-to-bring-back-physical-buttons-to-all-vehicles

Nearly one in four U.S. tech jobs posted in 2025 [1]require AI skills , according to data from the University of Maryland's AI job tracker, as companies across sectors adapt to the technology.

Companies across healthcare, retail and utilities are increasingly seeking candidates who can integrate AI into existing roles rather than creating entirely new positions, with these skills commanding premium pay and greater job security.

The information sector leads with 36% of IT jobs in January seeking AI expertise, followed by finance and professional services firms. AI-related listings account for 1.3% of all job postings nationwide. New AI job postings surged 68% since ChatGPT's launch in late 2022 through end-2024, while tech postings overall fell 27% during the same period.



[1] https://www.wsj.com/tech/ai/how-the-ai-talent-race-is-reshaping-the-tech-job-market-93df0615

An anonymous reader shares a report:

> AI excels at following instructions -- but it's not pushing the boundaries of knowledge, says Thomas Wolf. The chief science officer and cofounder of Hugging Face, an open-source AI company backed by Amazon and Nvidia, analyzed the limits of large language models. He wrote that the field produces " [1]overly compliant helpers " rather than revolutionaries. Right now, AI [2]isn't creating new knowledge , Wolf wrote. Instead, it's just filling in the blanks between existing facts -- what he called "manifold filling."

>

> Wolf argues that for AI to drive real scientific breakthroughs, it needs to do more than retrieve and synthesize information. AI should question its own training data, take counterintuitive approaches, generate new ideas from minimal input, and ask unexpected questions that open new research paths. Wolf also weighed in on the idea of a "compressed 21st century" -- a concept from an October essay by Anthropic's CEO Dario Amodei, "Machine of Loving Grace." Amodei wrote that AI could accelerate scientific progress so much that discoveries expected over the next 100 years could happen in just five to 10.

>

> "I read this essay twice. The first time I was totally amazed: AI will change everything in science in five years, I thought!" Wolf wrote on X. "Re-reading it, I realized that much of it seemed like wishful thinking at best." Unless AI research shifts gears, Wolf warned, we won't get a new Albert Einstein in a data center -- just a future filled with "yes-men on servers."



[1] https://x.com/Thom_Wolf/status/1897630495527104932

[2] https://www.businessinsider.com/ai-not-revolutionaries-thomas-wolf-science-breakthrough-agent-hugging-face-2025-3

[1]The Washington Post reports :

> Meta was willing to go to extreme lengths to censor content and shut down political dissent in a failed attempt to win the approval of the Chinese Communist Party and bring Facebook to millions of internet users in China, according to a new whistleblower complaint from a former global policy director at the company.

>

> The complaint by Sarah Wynn-Williams, who worked on a team handling China policy, alleges that the social media giant so desperately wanted to enter the lucrative China market that it was willing to allow the ruling party to oversee all social media content appearing in the country and quash dissenting opinions. Meta, then called Facebook, developed a censorship system for China in 2015 and planned to install a "chief editor" who would decide what content to remove and could shut down the entire site during times of "social unrest," according to a copy of the 78-page complaint exclusively seen by The Washington Post.

>

> Meta chief executive Mark Zuckerberg also agreed to crack down on the account of a high-profile Chinese dissident living in the United States following pressure from a high-ranking Chinese official the company hoped would help them enter China, according to the complaint, which was filed in April to the Securities and Exchange Commission [SEC]. When asked about its efforts to enter China, Meta executives repeatedly "stonewalled and provided nonresponsive or misleading information" to investors and American regulators, according to the complaint.

>

> Wynn-Williams bolstered her SEC complaint with internal Meta documents about the company's plans, which were reviewed by The Post. Wynn-Williams, who was fired from her job in 2017, is also scheduled to release a memoir this week documenting her time at the company, titled " [2]Careless People: A Cautionary Tale of Power, Greed, and Lost Idealism ." According to a memo in the complaint, Meta leaders faced aggressive pressure by Chinese government officials to host Chinese users' data to local data centers, which Wynn-Williams alleges would have made it easier for the Chinese Communist Party to [3]covertly obtain the personal information of its citizens .

Wynn-Williams told the Washington Post that "for many years Meta has been working hand in glove with the Chinese Communist Party, briefing them on the latest technological developments and lying about it."

Reached for a comment, Meta spokesman Andy Stone told the Washington Post it was "no secret" they'd been interested in operating in China. "This was widely reported beginning a decade ago. We ultimately opted not to go through with the ideas we'd explored, which Mark Zuckerberg announced in 2019." Although the Post shares new details about what a Facebook privacy policy staffer offer China in negotations in 2014. ("In exchange for the ability to establish operations in China, FB will agree to grant the Chinese government access to Chinese users' data — including Hongkongese users' data.")

The Post also describes one iteration of a proposed agreement in 2015. "To aid the effort, Meta built a censorship system specially designed for China to review, including the ability to automatically detect restricted terms and popular content on Facebook, according to the complaint...

"In 2017, Meta covertly launched a handful of social apps under the name of a China-based company created by one of its employees, according to the complaint."



[1] https://www.msn.com/en-us/technology/tech-companies/zuckerberg-s-meta-considered-sharing-user-data-with-china-whistleblower-alleges/ar-AA1Ay7Pg

[2] https://us.macmillan.com/books/9781250391230/carelesspeople/

[3] https://www.article19.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/02/cybersecurity-with-chinese-characteristics.pdf

August, 2023: [1]Thousands of Crypto Scammers are Enslaved by Human-Trafficking Gangsters, Says Bloomberg Reporter . ("They'd lure young people from across Southeast Asia...with the promise of well-paying jobs in customer service or online gambling.")

[2]February, 2025 : A coordinated response begins by Thai, Chinese and Myanmar authorities, which includes cutting power, internet, and fuel supplies to the scam centers.

[3]Today: The Associated Press reports that thousands of the people liberated from locked compounds in Myanmar now "have found themselves trapped once again, this time in overcrowded facilities with no medical care, limited food and no idea when they'll be sent home."

> Thousands of sick, exhausted and terrified young men and women, from countries all over the world squat in rows, packed shoulder to shoulder, surgical masks covering their mouths and eyes. Their nightmare was supposed to be over... The armed groups who are holding the survivors, as well as Thai officials across the border, say they are awaiting action from the detainees' home governments. It's one of the largest potential rescues of forced laborers in modern history, but advocates say the first major effort to crack down on the cyber scam industry has turned into a growing humanitarian crisis...

>

> An unconfirmed list provided by authorities in Myanmar says they're holding citizens from 29 countries including Philippines, Kenya and the Czech Republic. Authorities in Thailand say they cannot allow foreigners to cross the border from Myanmar unless they can be sent home immediately, leaving many to wait for help from embassies that has been long in coming. China sent a chartered flight Thursday to the tiny Mae Sot airport to pick up a group of its citizens, but few other governments have matched that. There are roughly 130 Ethiopians waiting in a Thai military base, stuck for want of a $600 plane ticket. Dozens of Indonesians were bused out one morning last week, pushing suitcases and carrying plastic bags with their meager possessions as they headed to Bangkok for a flight home... The recent abrupt halt to U.S. foreign aid funding has made it even harder to get help to released scam center workers...

>

> It's not clear how much of an effect these releases will have on the criminal groups that run the scam centers. February marked the third time the Thais have cut internet or electricity to towns across the river. Each time, the compounds have managed to work around the cuts. Large compounds have access to diesel-powered generators, as well as access to internet provider Starlink, experts working with law enforcement say.

The article also points out that "The people released are just a small fraction of what could be 300,000 people working in similar scam operations across the region, according to an estimate from the United States Institute of Peace. Human rights groups and analysts add that the networks that run these illegal scams will continue to operate unless much broader action is taken against them..."

"The United Nations Office on Drugs and Crimes estimates that between $18 billion and $37 billion was lost in Asia alone in 2023, with minimal government action against the criminal industry's spread."



[1] https://news.slashdot.org/story/23/08/19/0629215/thousands-of-crypto-scammers-are-enslaved-by-human-trafficking-gangsters-says-bloomberg-reporter

[2] https://tech.slashdot.org/story/25/02/05/1348250/thailand-cuts-internet-and-power-supply-to-some-areas-in-myanmar-in-blow-to-scam-centers

[3] https://apnews.com/article/myanmar-thailand-scam-centers-trapped-humanitarian-c1cab4785e14f07859ed59c821a72bd2

Red Hat product manager Pau Garcia Quiles (also long-time Slashdot reader [1]paugq ) spotted an interesting project on GitHub:

> [2]Free95 , a new lean, Windows-compatible operating system is available from GitHub. In its current form, it can run very basic Win32 GUI and console applications, but its developer promises to keep working on it to reach DirectX and even game compatibility.

"Free95 is your friendly Windows Environment with an added trust of the open source community," according to its README file. (It's licensed under the GPL-3.0 license.) And in answer to the question "Why?" it responds "To remove Windows's bloat, and security problems. Being controlled by a large corporation is unsettling."

"It's still in-development of course," the developer [3]post recently on Reddit , "and I'll appreciate anyone who'd like to contribute." In one comment they claim Free95 is "much more lightweight, simpler and faster than ReactOS." And looking to the future, they add "I might do DirectX stuff and make some games run. Or, what about DOOM?"



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

[2] https://github.com/Versoft-Software/Free95

[3] https://www.reddit.com/r/osdev/comments/1j3y9p7/i_built_an_os_to_be_compatible_with_windows/