A new article at Reason.com argues that U.S. courts " [1]are coming for digital libraries ."

> In September, a federal appeals court [2]dealt a major blow to the Internet Archive — one of the largest online repositories of free books, media, and software — in a copyright case with significant implications for publishers, libraries, and readers. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the 2nd Circuit [3]upheld a lower court ruling that found the Internet Archive's huge, digitized lending library of copyrighted books was not covered by the "fair use" doctrine and infringed on the rights of publishers. Agreeing with the Archive's interpretation of fair use "would significantly narrow — if not entirely eviscerate — copyright owners' exclusive right to prepare derivative works," the 2nd Circuit ruled. "Were we to approve [Internet Archive's] use of the works, there would be little reason for consumers or libraries to pay publishers for content they could access for free."

Others disagree, according to some links shared in a recent email from the Internet Archive. [4]Public Knowledge CEO Chris Lewis argues the court's logic renders the fair use doctrine "almost unusuable". And that's just the beginning...

> This decision harms libraries. It locks them into an e-book ecosystem designed to extract as much money as possible while harvesting (and reselling) reader data en masse. It leaves local communities' reading habits at the mercy of curatorial decisions made by four dominant publishing companies thousands of miles away. It steers Americans away from one of the few remaining bastions of privacy protection and funnels them into a surveillance ecosystem that, like Big Tech, becomes more dangerous with each passing data breach.

But [5]lawyer/librarian Kyle K. Courtney writes that the case "is specific only to the parties, and does not impact the other existing versions of controlled digital lending."

> Additionally, this decision is limited to the 2nd Circuit and is not binding anywhere else — in other words, it does not apply to the 47 states outside the 2nd Circuit's jurisdiction. In talking with colleagues in the U.S. this week and last, many are continuing their programs because they believe their digital loaning programs fall outside the scope of this ruling... Moreover, the court's opinion focuses on digital books that the court said "are commercially available for sale or license in any electronic text format." Therefore, there remains a significant number of materials in library collections that have not made the jump to digital, nor are likely to, meaning that there is no ebook market to harm — nor is one likely to emerge for certain works, such as those that are no longer commercially viable...

>

> This case represents just one instance in an ongoing conversation about library lending in the digital age, and the possibility of appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court means the final outcome is far from settled.

Some more quotes from links shared by Internet Archive:

"It was clear that the only reason all the big publishers sued the Internet Archive was to put another nail in the coffin of libraries and push to keep this ebook licensing scheme grift going. Now the courts have helped." — [6]TechDirt

"The case against the Internet Archive is not just a story about the ruination of an online library, but a grander narrative of our times: how money facilitates the transference of knowledge away from the public, back towards the few." — blogger [7]Hannah Williams

Thanks to Slashdot reader [8]fjo3 for sharing the news.



[1] https://reason.com/2024/11/10/courts-are-coming-for-digital-libraries/

[2] https://news.slashdot.org/story/24/09/04/1728215/internet-archive-digital-lending-isnt-fair-use-2nd-cir-says

[3] https://storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.uscourts.ca2.60988/gov.uscourts.ca2.60988.306.1.pdf

[4] https://www.technologyreview.com/2024/09/11/1103838/why-a-ruling-against-the-internet-archive-threatens-the-future-of-americas-libraries/

[5] https://kylecourtney.com/cdl-decision-round-two-the-good-the-bad-and-the-ugly-and-why-there-is-still-hope/

[6] https://www.techdirt.com/2024/09/05/second-circuit-says-libraries-disincentivize-authors-to-write-books-by-lending-them-for-free/

[7] https://hkatewilliams.substack.com/p/on-the-internet-archive

[8] https://www.slashdot.org/~fjo3

When a [1]volcano erupted in 1980 about 70 miles from Portland, "lava incinerated anything living for miles around," remembers an [2]announcement from the University of California at Riverside . But "As an experiment, scientists later dropped gophers onto parts of the scorched mountain for only 24 hours.

"The benefits from that single day were undeniable — and still visible 40 years later."

> Once the blistering blast of ash and debris cooled, scientists theorized that, by digging up beneficial bacteria and fungi, gophers might be able to help regenerate lost plant and animal life on the mountain. Two years after the eruption, they tested this theory. "They're often considered pests, but we thought they would take old soil, move it to the surface, and that would be where recovery would occur," said UC Riverside microbiologist Michael Allen.

>

> They were right. But the scientists did not expect the benefits of this experiment would still be visible in the soil today, in 2024. [3]A paper out this week in the journal Frontiers in Microbiomes details an enduring change in the communities of fungi and bacteria where gophers had been, versus nearby land where they were never introduced. "In the 1980s, we were just testing the short-term reaction," said Allen. "Who would have predicted you could toss a gopher in for a day and see a residual effect 40 years later?"

>

> In 1983, Allen and Utah State University's James McMahon helicoptered to an area where the lava had turned the land into collapsing slabs of porous pumice. At that time, there were only about a dozen plants that had learned to live on these slabs. A few seeds had been dropped by birds, but the resulting seedlings struggled. After scientists dropped a few local gophers on two pumice plots for a day, the land exploded again with new life. Six years post-experiment, there were 40,000 plants thriving on the gopher plots. The untouched land remained mostly barren.

> All this was possible because of what isn't always visible to the naked eye. Mycorrhizal fungi penetrate into plant root cells to exchange nutrients and resources. They can help protect plants from pathogens in the soil, and critically, by providing nutrients in barren places, they help plants establish themselves and survive.

Mycorrhizal fungi also helped an old-growth forest survive, accoridng to the researchers — even after volcano ash had caused them to drop their needles...



[1] https://phys.org/news/2024-11-gophers-brought-mount-st-helens.html

[2] https://news.ucr.edu/articles/2024/11/05/how-gophers-brought-mount-st-helens-back-life-one-day

[3] https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/microbiomes/articles/10.3389/frmbi.2024.1399416/full?utm_source=F-NTF&utm_medium=EMLX&utm_campaign=PRD_FEOPS_20170000_ARTICLE

Renew Home says they're building a "virtual power plant" in Texas by "enabling homes to easily reduce and shift the timing of energy use." Thursday they announced a 10-year project distributing hundreds of thousands of smart thermostats to customers of Texas-based power utility NRG Energy, starting next spring. (Bloomberg calls them " [1]AI-enabled thermostats that use Alphabet Inc.'s Google Cloud technology .") The ultimate goal? "Create a nearly [2]1-gigawatt, AI-powered virtual power plant " — equivalent to 1.9 million solar panels, enough to power about 200,000 homes during peak demand.

One NRG executive touted the move as "cutting-edge, AI-driven solutions that will bolster grid resilience and contribute to a more sustainable future."

> [Residential virtual power plants] work by aggregating numerous, small-scale distributed energy resources like HVAC systems controlled by smart thermostats and home batteries and coordinating them to balance supply and demand... NRG, in partnership with Renew Home, plans to offer Vivint and Nest smart thermostats, including professional installation, at no cost to eligible customers across NRG's retail electricity providers and plans. These advanced thermostats make subtle automatic HVAC adjustments to help customers shift their energy use to times when electricity is less constrained, less expensive, and cleaner... Over time, the parties expect to add devices like batteries and electric vehicles to the virtual power plant, expanding energy savings opportunities for customers...

>

> Through the use of Google Cloud's data, analytics, and AI technology, NRG will be able to do things like better predict weather conditions, forecast wind and solar generation output, and create predictive pricing models, allowing for more efficient production and ultimately ensuring the home energy experience is seamless for customers.

Google Cloud will also offer "its AI and machine learning to determine the best time to cool or heat homes," reports Bloomberg, "based on a household's energy usage patterns and ambient temperatures."

It was less than a year ago that Renew Home was formed when Google spun off the load-shifting service for its "Google Nest" thermostats, which merged with load-shift management startup OhmConnect. Bloomberg describes this week's announcement as "Three of the biggest names in US home energy automation... coming together to offer some relief to the beleaguered Texas electrical grid."

But they point out that 1 gigawatt is roughly 1% of the record summer demand seen in Texas this year. Still, "The entire industry has been built to serve the peak load on the hottest day of the year," said Rasesh Patel, president of NRG's consumer unit. "This allows us to be a lot more smarter about demand in shaving the peak."



[1] https://finance.yahoo.com/news/ai-thermostats-pitched-texas-homes-210000983.html

[2] https://www.renewhome.com/press/press-release/nrg-renew-home-google-cloud-announce-plan-to-develop-1gw-virtual-power-plant-in-texas

Long-time Slashdot reader [1]Geoffrey.landis writes:

> Despite its impressive output, a [2]recent study from MIT suggests generative AI doesn't have a coherent understanding of the world. While the best-performing large language models have surprising capabilities that make it seem like the models are implicitly learning some general truths about the world, that isn't necessarily the case. The [3]recent paper showed that Large Language Models and game-playing AI implicitly model the world, but the models are flawed and incomplete.

>

> An example study showed that a popular type of generative AI model accurately provided turn-by-turn driving directions in New York City, without having formed an accurate internal map of the city. Though the model can still navigate effectively, when the researchers closed some streets and added detours, its performance plummeted. And when they dug deeper, the researchers found that the New York maps the model implicitly generated had many nonexistent streets curving between the grid and connecting far away intersections.



[1] https://slashdot.org/~Geoffrey.landis

[2] https://news.mit.edu/2024/generative-ai-lacks-coherent-world-understanding-1105

[3] https://arxiv.org/pdf/2406.03689

Long-time Slashdot reader [1]DesScorp writes:

> The Washingtonian magazine reports that yet another company is ending most remote work for its employees. The Post's previous policy from 2022 until now had been 3 days in office, 2 days remote. The employee union for the paper, the Washington Post Guild, will oppose the mandate.

The union sent members a defiant email, according to the article. "Guild leadership sees this for what it is: a change that stands to further disrupt our work than to improve our productivity or collaboration."

> Managers will have to return beginning February 3, 2025, and all other employees will be expected in the office beginning June 2 [according to a memo from publisher Will Lewis]. "I want that great office energy for us every day," Lewis writes. "I am reliably informed that is how it used to be here before Covid, and it's important we get this back."



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

"Java application security would be enhanced through two proposals aimed at resisting quantum computing attacks," [1]reports InfoWorld , "one plan involving digital signatures and the other key encapsulation."

> The two proposals reside in [2]the OpenJDK JEP (JDK Enhancement Proposal ) index.

>

> The [3]Quantum-Resistant Module-Lattice-Based Digital Signature Algorithm proposal calls for enhancing the security of Java applications by providing an implementation of the quantum-resistant module-latticed-based digital signature algorithm (ML-DSA). ML-DSA would secure against future quantum computing attacks by using digital signatures to detect unauthorized modifications to data and to authenticate the identity of signatories. ML-DSA was standardized by the United States National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) in [4]FIPS 204 .

>

> The [5]Quantum-Resistant Module-Lattice-Based Key Encapsulation Mechanism proposal calls for enhancing application security by providing an implementation of the quantum-resistant module-lattice-based key encapsulation mechanism (ML-KEM). KEMs are used to secure symmetric keys over insecure communication channels using [6]public key cryptography . ML-KEM is designed to be secure against future quantum computing attacks and was standardized by NIST in [7]FIPS 203 .



[1] https://www.infoworld.com/article/3601103/java-proposals-would-boost-resistance-to-quantum-computing-attacks.html

[2] https://www.infoworld.com/article/3598939/12-java-enhancement-proposals-changing-java.html

[3] https://openjdk.org/jeps/497

[4] https://csrc.nist.gov/pubs/fips/204/final

[5] https://openjdk.org/jeps/496

[6] https://www.infoworld.com/article/2270982/a-quick-guide-to-modern-cryptography.html

[7] https://csrc.nist.gov/pubs/fips/203/final

Slashdot reader [1]sciencehabit shared [2]this report from Science magazine :

> Elephants love showering to cool off, and most do so by sucking water into their trunks and spitting it over their bodies. But an elderly pachyderm named Mary has perfected the technique by using a hose as a showerhead, much in the way humans do. The behavior is a remarkable example of sophisticated tool use in the animal kingdom. But the story doesn't end there.

>

> Mary's long, luxurious baths have drawn so much attention that an envious elephant at the Berlin Zoo has figured out how to shut the water off on her supersoaking rival—a type of sabotage rarely seen among animals.

>

> Both behaviors, reported today in Current Biology, further [3]cement elephants as complex thinkers , says Lucy Bates, a behavioral ecologist at the University of Portsmouth not involved in the study. The work, she says, 'suggests problem solving or even 'insight.''



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

[2] https://www.science.org/content/article/elephant-learned-use-hose-shower-then-her-rival-sought-revenge

[3] https://www.cell.com/current-biology/fulltext/S0960-9822(24)01371-X

Salesforce "plans to hire more than 1,000 workers to sell its new generative AI agent product," [1]reports Bloomberg :

> The hiring surge is aimed at capitalizing on "amazing momentum" for the new artificial intelligence product, Chief Executive Marc Benioff said in a message. "Agentforce became available just two weeks ago and we're already hearing incredible feedback from our customers."

>

> The top seller of customer relations management software, Salesforce pivoted its AI strategy this year to focus on agents — tools that can complete tasks such as customer support or sales development without human supervision. It launched the product, dubbed Agentforce, last month, with initial pricing of about $2 per agent conversation.



[1] https://finance.yahoo.com/news/salesforce-hire-1-000-people-194931457.html

"The Rust trademark policy has been updated and [1]a new draft is available to view," [2]announced the Rust Foundation this week.

The last proposed trademark policy (in April of 2023) was criticized by open source advocate Bruce Perens [3]in The Register as "far awry of fair use which is legally permitted." The Rust Foundation says this new version has "incorporated a number of suggestions from the Rust community," in a blog post that summarizes the feedback and enumerates specific ways it's been addressed:

> 1. We primarily plan to lean on community reports for enforcement and have no intention of spending our limited resources policing the work of small creators.

>

> 2. We have removed the non-legal language summary and instead have clarified wording throughout as best we can while keeping the policy valid.

>

> 3. The Rust trademark does not cover use of the word "Rust" in general and instead pertains to its use in relevant technical settings.

>

> 4. We have updated the logo usage policy. Color modifications are allowed.

>

> 5. The non-endorsement rule is about managing perception of official affiliation with the Foundation and Rust Project, and is thus subjective.

>

> 6. We removed restrictions on the use of "Rust" and "Cargo" in package names. The crates prefixes "rust-" and "cargo-" are no longer reserved to the Rust Project.

>

> 7. We will usually allow the community to use the marks on limited merchandise (more details in the updated draft)....

>

> [T]he central purpose of these updates is to empower all Rustaceans to engage with the Rust language ecosystem more confidently. As a final step in this process, we invite you to review the updated policy and share any blocking concerns you might have... Thank you to everyone who weighed in with helpful suggestions on the initial trademark policy draft we shared. The level of engagement and passion within the Rust community is inspiring to all of us at the Rust Foundation.

The [4]tech news site Heise Online writes "It is noticeable that the language is much clearer and dispenses with a lot of legal jargon," in a piece which argues the new draft "should calm the waves and create clarity."

> The new draft is not only formulated more simply, but is also significantly shorter. Some restrictions have been softened in the new rules or have disappeared completely...

>

> Meanwhile, the Foundation has also adapted its logo so that it is clear which logo stands for the programming language and which for the Foundation. The use of the name Rust is explicitly permitted to identify projects that are either written in the programming language or are compatible with it...

>

> Before the new trademark rules come into force, the Rust Foundation is collecting feedback on the current draft. The web form is open until November 20, 2024.



[1] https://drive.google.com/file/d/1hjTx11Fb-4W7RQLmp3R8BLDACc7zxIpG/view?usp=sharing

[2] https://foundation.rust-lang.org/news/rust-trademark-policy-updates/

[3] https://www.theregister.com/2023/04/17/rust_foundation_apologizes_trademark_policy/

[4] https://www.heise.de/en/news/Rust-Trademark-New-draft-should-calm-the-waves-and-create-clarity-10008202.html

Nathan Sobo "joined GitHub in late 2011 to build the Atom text editor," [1]according to an online biography , "and he led the Atom team until 2018." Max Brunsfeld joined the Atom team in 2013, and "While driving Atom towards its 1.0 launch during the day, Max spent nights and weekends building Tree-sitter, a blazing-fast and expressive incremental parsing framework that currently powers all code analysis at GitHub."

Last year they teamed up with Antonio Scandurra (another Atom alumnus) to launch a new startup called Zed (which in 2023 raised $10 million, [2]according to TechCrunch ). And today the [3]open source blog It's FOSS checks in on their open-source code editor — " [4]Zed Editor ". Mainly written in Rust, it supports running in CLI, diagnosing project-wide errors, split panes, and markdown previews:

> By default, any added content is treated as plain text. I used the language switcher to change it to Rust so that I would get proper syntax highlighting, indentation, error detection, and other useful language-specific functions. The switch highlighted all the Rust elements correctly, and I then focused on Zed Editor's user interface. The overall feel of the editor was minimal, with all the important options being laid out nicely.

>

> [Its status bar] had some interesting panels. The first one I checked was the Terminal Panel, which, as the name suggests, lets you run commands, scripts, and facilitates interaction with system files or processes directly from within the editor. I then moved to the Assistant Panel, which is home to various large language models that can be integrated into Zed Editor. There are options like Anthropic, GitHub Copilot Chat, Ollama, OpenAI, and Google AI... The Zed Editor team has also recently introduced [5]Zed AI in collaboration with Anthropic for assisting with coding, allowing for code generation, advanced context-powered interactions, and more...

>

> The real-time collaboration features on Zed Editor are quite appealing too. To check them out, I had to log in with my GitHub account. After logging in, the Collab Panel opened up, and I could see many channels from the official Zed community. I could chat with others, add collaborators to existing projects, join a call with the option to share my screen and track other collaborators' cursors, add new contacts, and carry out many other collaborative tasks.

>

> One can also use extensions and themes to extend what Zed Editor can do. There are some nice pre-installed themes as well.



[1] https://zed.dev/team

[2] https://techcrunch.com/2023/03/15/zed-code-editor-raises-10m/

[3] https://news.itsfoss.com/zed-editor/

[4] https://zed.dev/

[5] https://zed.dev/ai

Friday "would have been his 38th birthday," writes the EFF, remembering Aaron Swartz as "a [1]digital rights champion who believed deeply in keeping the internet open..." And they add that today the official web site for Aaron Swartz Day honored his memory with a special podcast " [2]featuring those carrying on the work around issues close to his heart ," including an appearance by Brewster Kahle, founder of the Internet Archive.

The first speaker is [3]Ryan Shapiro , FOIA expert and co-founder of the national security transparency non-profit [4]Property of the People . The Aaron Swartz Day site calls him "the researcher who discovered [5]why the FBI had such an interest in Aaron in the years right before the JSTOR fiasco." (That web page calls it an "Al Qaeda phishing expedition that left Aaron with an 'International Terrorism Investigation' code in his FBI database file forever," as [6]reported by Gizmodo .)

Other speakers on the podcast include:

Nathan Dyer of SecureDrop, Newsroom Support Engineer for the [7]Freedom of the Press Foundation with an update on [8]SecureDrop

Tracey Jaquith, Founding Coder and TV Architect at the Internet Archive, discussing "Microservices, Monoliths, and Operational Security — The Internet Archive in 2024."

Tracy Rosenberg, co-founder of the Aaron Swartz Day Police Surveillance Project and Oakland Privacy, with "an update on the latest crop of surveillance battles."

Ryan Sternlicht, VR developer, educator, researcher, advisor, and maker, on "The Next Layer of Reality: Social Identity and the New Creator Economy."

Grant Smith Ellis, Chairperson of the Board, MassCann and Legal Intern at the Parabola Center, on "Jury Trials in the Age of Social Media."

Michael "Mek" Karpeles, Open Library, Internet Archive, on "When it Rains at the Archive, Build an Ark — Book bans, Lawsuits, & Breaches."

The site also seeks to showcase [9]SecureDrop and [10]Open Library , projects started by Aaron before his death, as well as new projects "directly inspired by Aaron and his work."



[1] https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2013/01/farewell-aaron-swartz

[2] https://www.aaronswartzday.org/

[3] https://www.aaronswartzday.org/ryan-shapiro/

[4] https://propertyofthepeople.org/

[5] https://www.aaronswartzday.org/jan11rawthought/

[6] https://gizmodo.com/fbi-secretly-collected-data-on-aaron-swartz-earlier-tha-1831076900

[7] https://freedom.press/

[8] https://www.aaronswartzday.org/securedrop/

[9] https://www.aaronswartzday.org/securedrop/

[10] https://www.aaronswartzday.org/open-library/

NASA hopes to stimulate in-space manufacturing through a multi-year "laser beam welding collaboration" with Ohio State University. The project "seeks to understand the physical processes of welding on the lunar surface," [1]according to NASA.gov , "such as investigating the effects of laser beam welding in a combined vacuum and reduced gravity environment."

> The goal is to increase the capabilities of manufacturing in space to potentially assemble large structures or make repairs on the Moon, which will inform humanity's next giant leap of sending [2]astronauts to Mars and beyond. "For a long time, we've used fasteners, rivets, or other mechanical means to keep structures that we assemble together in space," said Andrew O'Connor, a Marshall materials scientist who is helping coordinate the collaborative effort and is NASA's technical lead for the project. "But we're starting to realize that if we really want strong joints and if we want structures to stay together when assembled on the lunar surface, we may need in-space welding."

>

> The ability to weld structures in space would also eliminate the need to transport rivets and other materials, reducing payloads for space travel. That means learning how welds will perform in space. To turn the effort into reality, researchers are gathering data on welding under simulated space conditions, such as temperature and heat transfer in a vacuum; the size and shape of the molten area under a laser beam; how the weld cross-section looks after it solidifies; and how mechanical properties change for welds performed in environmental conditions mimicking the lunar surface. "Once you leave Earth, it becomes more difficult to test how the weld performs, so we are leveraging both experiments and computer modeling to predict welding in space while we're still on the ground," said O'Connor.

>

> In August 2024, a joint team from Ohio State's Welding Engineering and Multidisciplinary Capstone Programs and Marshall's Materials & Processes Laboratory performed high-powered fiber laser beam welding aboard a commercial aircraft that simulated reduced gravity. The aircraft performed parabolic flight maneuvers that began in level flight, pulled up to add 8,000 feet in altitude, and pushed over at the top of a parabolic arc, resulting in approximately 20 seconds of reduced gravity to the passengers and experiments. While floating in this weightless environment, team members performed laser welding experiments in a simulated environment similar to that of both low Earth orbit and lunar gravity. Analysis of data collected by a network of sensors during the tests will help researchers understand the effects of space environments on the welding process and welded material.

They performed that laser-beam welding in a vacuum chamber during the parabolic flight (on a Boeing 727), according to the article — and successfully completed 69 out of 70 welds in microgravity and lunar gravity conditions. "The last time NASA performed welding in space was during the [3]Skylab mission in 1973...

"Practical welding and joining methods and allied processes, including additive manufacturing, will be required to develop the in-space economy."



[1] https://www.nasa.gov/centers-and-facilities/marshall/nasa-to-transform-in-space-manufacturing-with-laser-beam-welding-collaboration/

[2] https://www.nasa.gov/moontomarsarchitecture/

[3] https://www.nasa.gov/skylab/

On Tuesday Massachusetts voted to become the first state to [1]allow gig-working drivers to join labor unions , reports WBUR:

> Since these gig workers are classified as independent contractors, federal law allowing employees the right to unionize does not apply to them. With the passage of this ballot initiative, Massachusetts is the first state to give ride-hailing drivers the ability to collectively bargain over working conditions.

Supporters have said the ballot measure "could provide a model for other states to let Uber and Lyft drivers unionize," [2]reports Reuters , "and inspire efforts to organize them around the United States."

> Roxana Rivera, assistant to the president of 32BJ SEIU, an affiliate of the Service Employees International Union, that had spearheaded a campaign to pass the proposal, said its approval shows that Massachusetts voters want drivers to have a meaningful check against the growing power of app-based companies... The Massachusetts vote was the [3]latest front in a years-long battle in the United States over whether ride-share drivers should be considered to be independent contractors or employees entitled to benefits and wage protections. Studies have shown that using contractors can cost companies as much as 30% less than employees.

>

> Drivers for Uber and Lyft, including approximately 70,000 in Massachusetts, do not have the right to organize under the National Labor Relations Act... Under the Massachusetts measure, drivers can form a union after collecting signatures from at least 25% of active drivers in Massachusetts, and companies can form associations to allow them to jointly negotiate with the union during state-supervised talks.

But [4]the Boston Globe points out that the measure " [5]divided labor advocates in Massachusetts, some of whom worry it would in fact be a step backward in the lengthy fight to boost the rights of gig workers."

> Those concerns led the state's largest labor organization, the AFL-CIO, to remain neutral. But two unions backing the effort, the SEIU 32BJ and the International Association of Machinists, say allowing drivers to unionize, even if not as full employees, will help provide urgently needed worker protections and better pay and safety standards.



[1] https://www.wbur.org/news/2024/11/06/question-3-uber-lyft-drivers-union

[2] https://www.reuters.com/business/autos-transportation/massachusetts-voters-allow-uber-lyft-drivers-unionize-2024-11-06/

[3] https://www.reuters.com/legal/government/dueling-massachusetts-gig-worker-ballot-measures-clear-key-hurdle-2023-09-06/

[4] https://www.bostonglobe.com/2024/11/05/metro/massachusetts-ballot-question-3-rideshare-drivers-union/

[5] https://www.bostonglobe.com/2024/10/13/business/uber-lyft-drivers-union-ballot-question/

"The majority of strokes could be prevented," [1]reports the Associated Press , according to the first new guidelines in 10 years from the American Stroke Association, which are "aimed at helping people and their doctors do just that."

> Stroke was the [2]fourth leading cause of death in the U.S. in 2023, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and more than half a million Americans have a stroke every year. But up to 80% of strokes may be preventable with better nutrition, exercise and identification of risk factors... The good news is that the best way to reduce your risk for stroke is also the best way to reduce your risk for a whole host of health problems — eat a healthy diet, move your body and don't smoke...

>

> Eating healthy can help control several factors that increase your risk for stroke, including high cholesterol, high blood sugar, and obesity, according to the heart association. The group recommends foods in the so-called Mediterranean diet such as fruits, vegetables, whole grains and olive oil, which can help keep cholesterol levels down. It suggests limiting red meat and other sources of saturated fat. Instead, get your protein from beans, nuts, poultry, fish and seafood. Limit [3]highly processed foods and foods and drinks with a lot of added sugar. This can also reduce your calorie intake, which helps keep weight in check.

>

> Getting up and walking around for at least 10 minutes a day can "drastically" reduce your risk, said Dr. Cheryl Bushnell, a neurologist at Wake Forest University School of Medicine who was part of the group that came up with the new guidelines. Among the many benefits: Regular exercise can help reduce blood pressure, a major risk factor for stroke. Of course, more is better: The heart association recommends at least 150 minutes of moderate aerobic or 75 minutes of vigorous activity — or some combination — per week. How you do it doesn't matter so much, experts said: Go to the gym, take a walk or run in your neighborhood or use treadmills or stepper machines at home. Diet and exercise can help control weight, another important risk factor for strokes.

But in addition, the guidelines now recommend that doctors consider new weight-loss drugs like Ozempic, Wegovy, [4]Mounjaro and Zepbound for people with obesity or diabetes. (Though "people still need to [5]eat well and get exercise , cautions Dr. Fadi Nahab, a stroke expert at Emory University Hospital.")



[1] https://apnews.com/article/stroke-risk-death-nutrition-exercise-ozempic-mounjaro-5fee3375b627377b6a39565ce2a647c5

[2] https://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/volumes/73/wr/pdfs/mm7331a1-H.pdf

[3] https://apnews.com/article/ultraprocessed-foods-healthy-diet-0501eb985016149541e6cc727e55dfea

[4] https://apnews.com/article/weight-loss-mounjaro-wegovy-tirzepatide-9718480e110eace3e91e0a2bcdc5e536

[5] https://apnews.com/article/wegovy-zepbound-intermittent-pause-fe569b7d035137d8bd38865d584cb1a3

Tuesday at California's Vandenberg Space Force base, the U.S. launched a Minuteman III missile, "in an important test of the weapon's ability to strike its targets with multiple warheads," [1]according to Air and Space Forces magazine :

> The Minuteman III missiles that form a critical leg of the U.S. nuclear triad each carry one nuclear-armed reentry vehicle. But the missile that was tested carried three test warheads... The intercontinental ballastic missile (ICBM) test was controlled by an airborne command post in a test of the U.S. ability to launch its nuclear deterrent from a survivable platform.... Gen. Thomas A. Bussiere, the commander of Air Force Global Strike Command, said in a release: "An airborne launch validates the survivability of our ICBMs, which serve as the strategic backstop of our nation's defense and defense of allies and partners...."

>

> The three test reentry vehicles — one high-fidelity [2]Joint Test Assembly , which carries non-nuclear explosives, and two telemetry Joint Test Assembly objects — struck the Reagan Test Site near the Kwajalein Atoll in the Marshall Islands roughly 30 minutes later after launch, a flight of about 4,200 miles. "They make up essentially a mock warhead," Col. Dustin Harmon, the commander of the 377th Test and Evaluation Group, the nation's operational ICBM test unit, said in an interview with Air & Space Forces Magazine. "There's two different types. One is telemetered, so it's got a radio transmitter in it, it's got antennas, gyroscopes, accelerometers — all the things that can sense motion and movement. And we fly those or we can put one in there that's called a high-fidelity. That is assembled much like an actual weapon would be, except we use surrogate materials, and so we want it to fly similarly to an actual weapon. ... It has the explosives in it that a normal warhead would to drive a detonation, but there's nothing to drive...."

>

> The U.S. government formally notified Russia in advance of the launch in accordance with a 1988 bilateral agreement. More than 145 countries were also provided with advance notice of the launch under the [3]Hague Code of Conduct — an international understanding on launch notifications. The U.S. also provided advance notice to China, a DOD spokesperson told Air & Space Forces Magazine. China notified the U.S. of an ICBM launch over the Pacific Ocean in September. There is no formal agreement between Washington and Beijing that requires such notifications, but each side provided them to avoid miscalculations.

Test launches happen three times a year, according to the article, yielding "several gigabytes of data" about reentry vehicles, subsystems, and payloads. "There are 400 Minuteman III missiles currently in service across Colorado, Montana, Nebraska, North Dakota, and Wyoming."

Thanks to long-time Slashdot reader [4]SonicSpike for sharing the article.



[1] https://www.airandspaceforces.com/us-launches-minuteman-iii-icbm-three-test-warheads/

[2] https://www.energy.gov/nnsa/articles/joint-test-assembly-flight-tests-national-security-necessity

[3] https://www.state.gov/hague-code-of-conduct-against-ballistic-missile-proliferation-hcoc/

[4] https://www.slashdot.org/~SonicSpike

Back in 1976, Mattel Electronics Auto Race became the very first handheld game to use only solid-state electronics, [1]according to Wikipedia . (Its only mechanical elements were its on/off switch and hand-operated controls...) Nearly half a century goes by — until the ancient and broken gizmo reaches long-time Slashdot reader [2]Shayde , who " [3]dove into disassembling the unit and figuring out the problem ."

Ironically, at one point his voltimeter stopped working, because...its batteries were dead. But a tri-wing screwdriver reveals the game's beautiful 1976 circuitboard — before the video fast forwards through "an almost comical attempt by me, a systems software engineer, to sauter the connections back onto this 48-year-old connector." (Instead he ends up replacing the machine's 9-volt battery connector...) On his [4]Patreon page , he writes that filming the video "took a stupidly long time to put together." But their Slashdot submission acknowledges that in the end, "Taking it apart and debugging it was fun. (Slight spoiler: I figured out what was wrong, was an easy fix), and the game plays great now!"

Any Slashdot readers have memories of playing Mattel Electronics Auto Race ? My one experience felt like that time that a gaming magazine had nine children (ages 9 to 12) [5]try to play old 1970s-era videogames like Pong . ("Wow. The score is tied. It's so exhilarating..." "My line is so beating the heck out of your stupid line...")



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

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

[3] https://youtu.be/0cT49Ux8jr0

[4] https://www.patreon.com/posts/new-video-mattel-115315682

[5] https://web.archive.org/web/20050204090105/http://www.1up.com/do/feature?pager.offset=0&cId=3109674

An anonymous reader shared [1]this report from Digital Trends :

> A number of popular generative AI platforms are seeing consistent growth as users are figuring out how they want to use the tools â" and ChatGPT is at the top of the list with the most visits, at 3.7 billion worldwide. So many people are visiting the AI chatbot, its figures are rivaling browser market share. It can only be compared to Google Chrome figures in terms of monthly users, which is [2]estimated to be around 3.45 billion .

>

> Statistics [3]from [web analytics company] Similarweb indicate that ChatGPT saw a 17.2% month-over-month (MoM) growth and a 115.9% year-over-year (YoY) traffic growth... Googleâ(TM)s Chrome browser has a solid market share of 35.4 billion users in 2024. It has seen minimal growth YoY but has grown 45.35% in the last 5 years, according to Statscounter.

The article notes ChatGPT saw a jump in traffic when it changed its dowmain from chat.openai.com to just chatgpt.com -- and that OpenAI recently purchased the domain Chat.com (though "there is no word on what the company plans to do...")

> Meanwhile, other AI tools continue to see traffic and growth, despite not being at the same level as ChatGPT. Despite [4]recent plagiarism claims , the Perplexity chatbot has seen 90.8 million visits in October, a 25.5% MoM growth and 199.2% YoY growth. Googleâ(TM)s Gemini Chatbot saw 291.6 million visits in October, a 6.2% MoM growth and 19% YoY growth after the company introduced a new ChromeOS update that brought new AI features to its Chromebooks. Anthropicâ(TM)s Claude chatbot has seen 84.1 million visits in October, a 25.5% MoM growth and 394.9% YoY growth, after recently rolling out a desktop application for Windows and macOS. Microsoftâ(TM)s web-based Copilot website saw 69.4 million visits in October, an 87.6% MoM growth.



[1] https://www.digitaltrends.com/computing/chatgpt-monthly-usage-rivals-chrome-browser/

[2] https://www.demandsage.com/chrome-statistics/

[3] https://www.similarweb.com/blog/insights/ai-news/chatgpt-notebooklm/

[4] https://www.digitaltrends.com/computing/the-plagiarists-of-silicon-valley/

After missing a chance to capitalize on the AI boom, "Samsung's profit has plunged," [1]reports CNBC , and "around $126 billion has been wiped off its market value, according to data from S&P Capital IQ."

It's gotten so bad that "an executive [2]issued a rare public apology about the company's recent financial performance."

> [A]s AI applications such as OpenAI's ChatGPT rose in popularity, the underlying infrastructure required to train the huge models they rely on became a bigger focus. Nvidia has emerged as the top player in this space with its graphics processing units (GPUs) that have become the gold standard used by tech giants for AI training. A crucial part of that semiconductor architecture is high-bandwidth memory, or HBM. This next generation of memory involves stacking multiple dynamic random access memory (DRAM) chips, but it had a small market before the AI boom. That's where Samsung got caught out and failed to invest...

>

> SK Hynix saw this opportunity. The company [3]aggressively launched HBM chips which were approved for use in Nvidia architecture and, in the process, the South Korean firm established a close relationship with the U.S. giant. Nvidia's CEO even [4]asked the company to speed up supply of its next generation chip, underscoring the importance of HBM to its products. SK Hynix posted [5]record quarterly operating profit in the September quarter...

>

> Analysts said that Samsung is lagging behind competitors for a number of reasons, including underinvestment in HBM and the fact that it is not a first-mover. "It is fair to say that Samsung has not been able to close the gap with SK Hynix on the HBM development roadmap," said Kazunori Ito [director of equity research at Morningstar]. Samsung's ability to make a comeback in the short term appears to be closely linked to Nvidia. A company must pass a strict qualification process before Nvidia approves it as a HBM supplier — and Samsung has not yet completed this verification. But a green light from Nvidia could open the door for Samsung to return to growth and compete more effectively with SK Hynix, according to analysts.



[1] https://www.cnbc.com/2024/11/08/how-samsung-fell-behind-in-the-ai-boom-behind-rival-sk-hynix.html

[2] https://www.cnbc.com/2024/10/08/samsung-issues-lengthy-apology-after-results-read-the-statement.html

[3] https://www.cnbc.com/2024/09/26/sk-hynix-to-start-mass-production-of-new-hbm3e-chip.html

[4] https://www.cnbc.com/2024/11/04/sk-hynix-shares-rally-after-nvidias-huang-asks-firm-to-speed-up-chip.html

[5] https://www.cnbc.com/2024/10/24/nvidia-supplier-sk-hynix-posts-record-quarterly-profit-beating-expectations.html

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

> Intel's Linux kernel test robot has reported a 3888.9% performance improvement in the mainline Linux kernel as of this past week...

>

> Intel thankfully has the resources to maintain this automated service for per-kernel commit/patch testing and has been maintaining their public kernel test robot for years now to help catch performance changes both positive and negative to the Linux kernel code. The commit in question causing this massive uplift to performance is [2]mm, mmap: limit THP alignment of anonymous mappings to PMD-aligned sizes . The patch message confirms it will fix some prior performance regressions and deliver some major uplift in specialized cases...

>

> That mmap patch merged last week affects just one line of code.

This week [3]the Register also reported that Linus Torvalds revised a previously-submitted security tweak that addressed Spectre and Meltdown security holes, writing in his commit message that "The kernel test robot reports a 2.6 percent improvement in the per_thread_ops benchmark."



[1] https://www.phoronix.com/news/Intel-Linux-3888.9-Performance

[2] https://git.kernel.org/pub/scm/linux/kernel/git/torvalds/linux.git/commit/?id=d4148aeab412432bf928f311eca8a2ba52bb05df

[3] https://www.theregister.com/2024/11/06/torvalds_patch_linux_performance/

The Free Software Foundation turns forty on October 4, 2025 "and we will end our thirties on a high note!" [1]they announced this week :

> We wish we were celebrating the achievement of software freedom for all computer users, but we're not there yet. Until our mission becomes reality and we can retire, instead, we are celebrating forty years of activism, and all that we have achieved.

>

> Since our founding in 1985, we laid out many stepping stones on the road to software freedom, and we're eager to continue building the road ahead. We will celebrate our fortieth in the spirit of bringing the international free software community together, discussing what we can do next to make the world freer, and celebrating how far we've come. We're aiming for a libre planet! Sounds familiar? Instead of hosting one [2]LibrePlanet conference in 2025, we're planning a jam-packed anniversary year, filled with several new and exciting activities!

>

> We'll begin the anniversary year with an unprecedented memorabilia auction, starting as a silent auction on March 17, and culminating in a virtual live auction on March 23. By moving out of the FSF office, we got to sort through all the fun and historically important memorabilia and selected the best ones. This is your chance to get your very own personal souvenir of the FSF, from original GNU art to a famous katana and the very same VT220 that was standing on the FSF's front desk, and which people used to display ASCII art or to play free software games.

>

> Let's claim the month of May as libre planet (or libre local) month! We're inviting free software supporters like you anywhere in the world, to organize an in-person community meetup in your area to bring people together. We're setting up a small fund for these local gatherings, can send stickers, flyers, ideas and tips, and you can invite an FSF staff member to give a talk or workshop during your event and of course, we'll help promote it...

>

> Then, on the actual birthday of the FSF on October 4, 2025, there will be a big celebration in Boston, MA, and the entire free software community is invited... These are just some of the big ticket items we have worked out, but there is more! Keep an eye out on the FSF's pages, we'll be posting exact information on everything upcoming.

They're looking for volunteers — and they also suggest organizing a community meetup in your area. Plus, there's also an FSF Anniversary Logo Contest. "We would like to source the fortieth anniversary logo design directly from a free software supporter. Everyone is welcome to submit a design (or even multiple designs) no matter your previous experience in design."

The winning design "will be chosen by the community and ultimately immortalized in the history of the FSF," according to the announcement — displayed on the FSF homepage, printed on all celebration materials, "and possibly even stamped on some merchandise." But of course, the [3]contest's requirements include respecting everyone's freedoms:

> - The logo must be produced using exclusively free software editing tools, such as GIMP, Krita, or Inkscape;

>

> - Any fonts used in the design must be under the SIL Open Font license or another free license...

"The final logo will be released under CC BY, attributed to the FSF."



[1] https://www.fsf.org/blogs/community/forty-years-of-commitment-to-software-freedom

[2] https://libreplanet.org/2024/

[3] https://www.fsf.org/blogs/community/fsf-anniversary-logo-contest