An anonymous reader shared [1]this report from The Wrap

> Tesla this weekend introduced a new "Tron: Ares" mode, giving drivers an opportunity to turn their on-screen vehicles into the glowing Light Cycles that have been a big part of the Disney franchise since 1982.

>

> The [2]optional update started rolling out on Friday, as Tron: Ares debuted in theaters. Tesla announced the update [3]on X : "The grid has expanded to your Tesla — Tron: Ares update rolling out now." The feature is activated in Tesla's Toybox "infotainment" system, and turns the driver's vehicle avatar into a red Light Cycle. For drivers who have the "ambient lighting" feature, the mode will also expand the theme throughout the cabin.

There was also a [4]sleek black Tesla Optimus robot at the premier of Tron: Ares .

Ironically, the Hollywood Reporter writes that by box office figures, "Tron is in big trouble," selling fewer tickets than expected (despite the movie's $180 million pre-marketing budget). While Tron's audience reviews gave it an 86% score on Rotten Tomatoes, its [5]score with critics is just 57% .

The Los Angeles Times says the movie "has glowing style, [6]but its storytelling doesn't compute ." (Or, as the New York Times puts it, " [7]Who needs logic when you have neon ?")



[1] https://www.thewrap.com/tron-ares-mode-turns-teslas-into-glowing-light-cycles/

[2] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2Jm95xz0Q3I

[3] https://x.com/Tesla/status/1976641367183917389

[4] https://youtube.com/shorts/GD5jvwaMHjw?si=hhDdLsPsZHDMg6_Q

[5] https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/tron_ares

[6] https://www.latimes.com/entertainment-arts/movies/story/2025-10-09/tron-ares-review-jared-leto-greta-lee-joachim-ronning-disney

[7] https://www.nytimes.com/2025/10/09/movies/tron-ares-review.html

Long-time Slashdot reader [1]Qbertino writes:

> German IT news outlet Heise reports [German-language article] that the northern most state Schleswig-Holstein has, after half a year of frantic data migration work, successfully [2]migrated their MS Outlook mail and groupware setups to a FOSS solution using Open-Xchange and Thunderbird.

>

> Stakeholders consider the move a major success and milestone to digital sovereignty and saving costs. This move makes the state a pioneer in Germany. As a next major step Schleswig-Holstein plans to migrate their authorities and administrations desktop PCs to Linux.

The state has achieved "digital sovereignty by ditching Microsoft for open source solutions," [3]writes the site It's FOSS , adding that European nations "have generally been more progressive in adopting open source solutions for government operations."

> The migration affected around 30,000 employees across various government departments. This includes the State Chancellery, ministries, judiciary, state police, and other state authorities. Over 40,000 mailboxes containing more than 100 million emails and calendar entries were moved to the new system. The state has adopted Open-Xchange as its email server solution and Thunderbird as the email client....

>

> [Digitization Minister Dirk Schrödter] emphasized that "We are real pioneers. We can't fall back on the experience of others -, there is hardly a comparable project of this magnitude anywhere in the world."



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

[2] https://www.heise.de/news/Schleswig-Holsteins-E-Mail-Systeme-auf-Open-Source-umgestellt-10733720.html

[3] https://news.itsfoss.com/schleswig-holstein-email-system-migration/

Off the southwest cost of Italy, a remotely operated submarine made "a significant and rare discovery," [1]reports the Independent — a vast white coral reef that was 80 metres tall (262 feet) and 2 metres wide (6.56 feet) "containing important species and fossil traces."

> Often dubbed the "rainforests of the sea", coral reefs are of immense scientific interest due to their status as some of the planet's richest marine ecosystems, harbouring millions of species. They play a crucial role in sustaining marine life but are currently under considerable threat...

>

> hese impressive formations are composed of deep-water hard corals, commonly referred to as "white corals" because of their lack of colour, specifically identified as Lophelia pertusa and Madrepora oculata species. The reef also contains black corals, solitary corals, sponges, and other ecologically important species, as well as fossil traces of oysters and ancient corals, the Italian Research Council said. It called them "true geological testimonies of a distant past."

>

> Mission leader Giorgio Castellan said the finding was "exceptional for Italian seas: bioconstructions of this kind, and of such magnitude, had never been observed in the Dohrn Canyon, and are rarely seen elsewhere in our Mediterranean". The discovery will help scientists understand the ecological role of deep coral habitats and their distribution, especially in the context of conservation and restoration efforts, he added.

The undersea research was funded by the EU.

Thanks to [2]davidone (Slashdot reader #12,252) for sharing the article.



[1] https://www.the-independent.com/news/world/europe/naples-coral-reef-mediterranean-italy-b2843247.html

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

An anonymous reader shared [1]this report from the Independent :

> Bitcoin and Ethereum both saw record liquidations as [2]investors reacted to fears over a trade war , which saw many crypto investors move their money to stablecoins or safer assets... Bitcoin fell by more than 10 per cent to below $110,000, before recovering to $113,096 on Saturday morning. The value of Ethereum slumped by 11.2 per cent to $3,878. Other cryptocurrencies, including XRP, Doge and Ada, fell around 19 per cent, 27 per cent, and 25 per cent in the last 24 hours, respectively.

LiveMint [3]shares some statistics from Bloomberg :

> Citing 24-hour data from Coinglass, the report noted that more than $19 billion has been wiped out in the "largest liquidation event in crypto history", which impacted more than 1.6 million traders. It added that more than $7 billion of those positions were sold in less than one hour of trading on October 10. According to data on CoinMarketCap, the cryptocurrency market cap has dived to $3.74 trillion from the record-high $4.30 trillion level, the previous day. Trading volumes as of the market close were recorded at $490.23 billion.

>

> Bitcoin retreated on Friday, as US-China trade tensions reignited, after racing to record highs earlier in the week as persistent rate-cut bets and signs of some cooling in geopolitical tensions helped boost risk. Bitcoin was trading at $105,505.4 on Friday, down 13.15% on the day.



[1] https://www.independent.co.uk/news/business/crypto-bitcoin-crash-trump-china-tariff-b2843621.html

[2] https://www.independent.co.uk/news/business/china-dow-jones-industrial-average-citi-president-trump-b2843408.html

[3] https://www.livemint.com/market/ipo/upcoming-ipo-om-power-files-drhp-with-sebi-to-raise-funds-through-issuance-of-public-issue-stock-market-news-11760201445552.html

"Nvidia is investing billions in and selling chips to OpenAI, which is also buying chips from and earning stock in AMD," [1]writes SFGate . "AMD sells processors to Oracle, which is building data centers with OpenAI — which also gets data center work from CoreWeave. And that company is partially owned by, yes, Nvidia.

"Taken together, it's a doozy."

> There are other collaborations and rivalries and many other factors at play, but OpenAI is the many-tentacled octopus in the middle, spinning its achievement of ChatGPT into a blitz of speculative investments. "We are in a phase of the build-out where the entire industry's got to come together and everybody's going to do super well," OpenAI CEO Sam Altman [2]told the Wall Street Journal on Monday . "You'll see this on chips. You'll see this on data centers. You'll see this lower down the supply chain...."

>

> Some worry that the more closely companies intertwine, the more susceptible they are to creating a bubble, or a market not actually supported by real consumer demand. "You don't have to be a skeptic about AI technology's promise in general to see this announcement as a troubling signal about how self-referential the entire space has become," Bespoke Investment Group wrote in a note to clients, [3]per CNBC . "If NVDA has to provide the capital that becomes its revenues in order to maintain growth, the whole ecosystem may be unsustainable..."

>

> Also, even with Nvidia's investment, AMD's shares and OpenAI's repeated fundraises, the ChatGPT-maker doesn't have the cash to meet all of these vast commitments. And if OpenAI's soaring projections about demand for AI computing don't bear out, there will be a lot of committed money — and a large share of the stock market — that would see its foundations topple.

Thanks to long-time Slashdot reader [4]mspohr for sharing the news.



[1] https://www.sfgate.com/tech/article/circular-deals-bay-area-tech-21089538.php

[2] https://www.wsj.com/tech/ai/openai-amd-deal-ai-chips-ed92cc42?mod=hp_lead_pos1

[3] https://www.cnbc.com/2025/09/28/a-look-at-openais-tangled-web-of-dealmaking.html

[4] https://slashdot.org/~mspohr

"Next time Amazon hypes its Prime Days savings, remember this: The prices during the sale aren't always better," [1]writes a Washington Post technology columnist . "I've got the receipts to prove it."

> I would have saved, on average, almost nothing during Amazon's recent fall "Prime Big Deal Days" — and for some big-ticket purchases, I would have actually paid amore . For the sale that took place Oct. 7 and 8, my family went in prepared. We had a shopping list with prices we'd been tracking... A TV stand he'd been watching jumped 38 percent to $379, from $275 on Oct. 2. Same story for a few other big-ticket items on his list — another console went up from $219.99 to $299. Those products weren't listed as "big deals" on the site, but we certainly didn't expect their prices to spike during Prime Days.

>

> And in other cases, Amazon marketed discounts that turned out to be the exact price it had charged in recent weeks. One example: an Oral-B electric toothbrush was listed as 39 percent off, but actually the same price as in August... Other consumer advocates have warned one common trick is for Amazon to feature artificially inflated "before" prices to make discounts appear larger than they are. Ahead of Amazon's 2017 Prime Day, the nonprofit Consumer Watchdog reported that 61 percent of reference prices on Amazon were higher than any price the company had charged for those items in the prior 90 days... I found products listed as Prime Day discounts that cost the same as I'd paid less than a month earlier. For example, a pack of coronavirus tests I bought on Sept. 12 was the same price on Oct. 8, but listed as "39 percent off." Amazon said I'd gotten a particularly good deal in September, and the Prime Big Deal Days price offers "meaningful savings compared to the typical price customers have paid on Amazon over the last 90 days...."

>

> To actually get a good deal on Amazon, go in with a plan. I use a free website called [2]CamelCamelCamel , which tracks Amazon's historical prices. You can see what's really a discount — and set alerts when prices drop to your target.

The reporter checked every non-grocery purchase they'd made on Amazon for six months. Purchasing the same products on Amazon's "Big Deal Days" would have brought savings of just 0.6%. "And that doesn't include the $139 annual fee to be a member of Amazon Prime."



[1] https://www.msn.com/en-us/money/companies/i-tracked-amazon-s-prime-day-prices-we-ve-been-played/ar-AA1O8P5r

[2] http://camelcamelcamel.com/

"A 29-year-old man has been arrested on suspicion of starting the Pacific Palisades fire in Los Angeles that killed 12 people and destroyed more than 6,000 homes in January," [1]reports the BBC .

"Evidence collected from Jonathan Rinderknecht's digital devices included an image he generated on ChatGPT depicting a burning city, justice department officials said."

> Mr Rinderknecht had been living and working in California, and moved to Florida shortly after the fire, according to authorities. The initial blaze Mr Rinderknecht allegedly started on New Year's Day was called the Lachman fire. Although it was quickly suppressed by firefighters, it continued to smoulder underground in the root structure of dense vegetation, according to investigators, before it flared up again above ground in a windstorm [nearly a week later]... He lit it with an open flame after he completed a ride as an Uber driver on New Year's Eve, according to the indictment.

>

> Two passengers rode with Mr Rinderknecht earlier on New Year's Eve. One passenger told investigators he remembered the driver had appeared agitated and angry. Officials said they had used his phone data to pinpoint his location when the fire initially started on 1 January, but when they pressed him on details he allegedly lied to investigators, claiming he was near the bottom of the trail... The phone also showed that he repeatedly called 911 just after midnight on New Year's day, but could not get through because of patchy mobile reception on the trailhead. There was a screen recording of him trying to call emergency services and at one point being connected with a dispatcher. Mr Rinderknecht also asked ChatGPT: "Are you at fault if a fire is lift [sic] because of your cigarettes?"

>

> Investigators said the suspect wanted to "preserve evidence of himself trying to assist in the suppression of the fire". "He wanted to create evidence regarding a more innocent explanation for the cause of the fire," the indictment said... In July 2024, five months before he allegedly set the fire, Mr Rinderknecht asked ChatGPT to create an image of a "dystopian painting" that included a burning forest and a crowd of people running away from a fire, according to investigators.

The [2]announcement from officials suggests they retrieved data about Rinderknecht's iPhone. It says after walking up the trailer Rinderknecht "listened to a rap song — to which he had listened repeatedly in previous days — whose music video included things being lit on fire."



[1] https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c8exz5yg14ko

[2] https://www.justice.gov/usao-cdca/pr/florida-man-arrested-federal-criminal-complaint-alleging-he-maliciously-started-what

California's Privacy Protection Agency "issued a record fine earlier this month to Tractor Supply," [1]according to an EFF Deeplinks blog post — for "apparently ducking its responsibilities under the California Consumer Privacy Act."

> Under that law, companies are required to respect California customers' and job applicants' rights to know, delete, and correct information that businesses collect about them, and to opt-out of some types of sharing and use. The law also requires companies to give notice of these rights, along with other information, to customers, job applicants, and others. The CPPA said that Tractor Supply failed several of these requirements. This is the first time the agency has enforced this data privacy law to protect job applicants...

>

> Tractor Supply, which has 2,500 stores in 49 states, will pay for their actions to the tune of $1,350,000 — the largest fine the agency has issued to date. Specifically, the agency said, Tractor Supply [2]violated the law by:

>

> - Failing to maintain a privacy policy that notified consumers of their rights;

>

> - Failing to notify California job applicants of their privacy rights and how to exercise them;

>

> - Failing to provide consumers with an effective mechanism to opt-out of the selling and sharing of their personal information, including through opt-out preference signals such as Global Privacy Control; and

>

> - Disclosing personal information to other companies without entering into contracts that contain privacy protections.

>

>

> In addition to the fine, the company also must take an inventory of its digital properties and tracking technologies and will have to certify its compliance with the California privacy law for the next four years.

The agency's web site says it "continues to actively enforce California's cutting-edge privacy laws." It's recently issued decisions (and fines) against American Honda Motor Company and [3]clothing retailer Todd Snyder . Other recent actions include:

Securing a settlement agreement requiring data broker Background Alert — which promoted its ability to dig up "scary" amounts of information about people — to [4]shut down or pay a steep fine .

Launching the bipartisan [5]Consortium of Privacy Regulators to collaborate with states across the country to implement and enforce privacy laws nationwide.

Partnering with the data protection authorities [6]in Korea , [7]France , and the [8]United Kingdom to share information and advance privacy protections for Californians.

The agency has secured [9]more than half a dozen successful enforcement actions against [10]unregistered data brokers following an investigative sweep launched late last year to assess compliance with the Delete Act.



[1] https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2025/10/california-targets-tractor-supplys-tricky-tracking

[2] https://cppa.ca.gov/pdf/20250930_tractor_supply_bd_sfo.pdf

[3] https://cppa.ca.gov/announcements/2025/20250506.html

[4] https://cppa.ca.gov/announcements/2025/20250227.html

[5] https://cppa.ca.gov/announcements/2025/20250416.html

[6] https://cppa.ca.gov/announcements/2025/20250113.html

[7] https://cppa.ca.gov/announcements/2024/20240625.html

[8] https://cppa.ca.gov/announcements/2025/20250429.html

[9] https://cppa.ca.gov/announcements/2025/20250729.html

[10] https://cppa.ca.gov/announcements/2025/20250129.html

"California Governor Gavin Newsom signed the ' [1]California Opt Me Out Act ', which will require web browsers to include an easy, universal way for users to opt out of data collection and sales," reports the blog [2] 9to5Mac :

> [The law] requires browsers to provide a clear, one-click mechanism for Californians to opt out of data sharing across websites. The bill reads: "A business shall not develop or maintain a browser that does not include functionality configurable by a consumer that enables the browser to send an opt-out preference signal to businesses with which the consumer interacts through the browser...." Californians will need patience, though, as the law doesn't take effect until January 1, 2027.

Americans in some states — including California, Texas, Colorado, New Jersey and Maryland — "have the option to make those opt-out demands automatic whenever they surf the web," [3]reports the Washington Post . "But they can only do so if they use small browsers that voluntarily offer that option, such as DuckDuckGo, Firefox and Brave. What's new in California's law is that all browsers must give people the same option."

> That means soon in California, just using Google's Chrome, Apple's Safari and Microsoft's Edge can command companies not to sell your data or pass it along for ad targeting... It's an imperfect but potent and simple way to flex privacy rights — and becomes even more powerful with another simple privacy measure in California. Starting on January 1, California residents can fill out an online form once to completely and repeatedly wipe their data from hundreds of data brokers that package your personal information for sale.

But their article also suggests other ways readers can "try a one-click privacy option now."

"[S]ome national companies respect one-click privacy opt-out requests from everyone... This happens automatically if you use DuckDuckGo and Brave. You need to [4]change a setting with Firefox ."

"Download [5]Privacy Badger : The software from the Electronic Frontier Foundation, a consumer privacy advocacy group, works in the background to order websites not to sell information they're collecting about you."

"Use [6]Permission Slip from Consumer Reports . Give the app basic information, and it will help you do much of the legwork to tell companies not to sell your information or to delete it, if you have the right to do so."



[1] https://www.gov.ca.gov/2025/10/08/governor-newsom-signs-data-privacy-bills-to-protect-tech-users/

[2] https://9to5mac.com/2025/10/09/californias-latest-privacy-law-will-change-how-browsers-handle-tracking/

[3] https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/technology/a-one-click-button-to-protect-your-privacy-is-finally-real/ar-AA1OeBpt

[4] https://support.mozilla.org/en-US/kb/global-privacy-control

[5] https://privacybadger.org/

[6] https://www.permissionslipcr.com/

"OpenAI is staffing up to expand ChatGPT's marketing reach and build on-platform marketing tools," [1]reports Adweek :

> A [2]recent job listing shows the company is hiring a Growth Paid Marketing Platform Engineer to develop internal tools for ad platform integration, campaign management, and real-time attribution. The position is part of a newly formed "ChatGPT Growth team," and tasked with "building the technical infrastructure behind OpenAI's paid marketing platform...." This job listing is a rare signal of OpenAI's plans for an in-house marketing platform within ChatGPT, and part of the AI company's broader growth plans...

>

> This adds to recent reporting showing that OpenAI is quickly ramping up its advertising ambitions... Alex Heath of Sources [3]reported that OpenAI's CEO of Applications, Fidji Simo, was meeting with candidates to "lead a new team that will be tasked with bringing ads to ChatGPT...." OpenAI did not respond to requests for comment...

>

> Critically, this job listing would support building backend infrastructure — APIs, data pipelines, and services — to manage campaigns, measure attribution, and optimize ad spend. This internal infrastructure would give OpenAI the ability to run marketing at scale without relying on external agencies, two industry insiders said, adding that successfully doing so for itself could lay the foundation for a broader product that lets other brands run campaigns through ChatGPT... [Jacob Bourne, an analyst at eMarketer] added that while it may be striking to see a company that began as a nonprofit research lab make this kind of move, it reflects OpenAI's for-profit pivot and broader push into revenue generation.

"In [4]a new Stratechery interview , Altman admitted Instagram changed his mind about ads," [5]the site Search Engine Land reported Wednesday , citing these two quotes from the interview:

> - "I love Instagram ads, they've added value to me, I found stuff I never would've found, I bought a bunch of stuff, I actively like Instagram ads. I think there's many things I respect about Meta, but getting that so right was a surprisingly cool thing for me. Other than that, I viewed ads on the Internet as sort of like a tax."

>

> - "I believe there probably is some cool ad product we can do that is a net win to the user and a sort of positive to our relationship with the user. I don't know what it is yet, I'm not like, 'Here is our ad model' already."

Their article also cites [6]a tweet from an ad industry director who says OpenAI's own revenue projections now show "free-user monetization"...



[1] https://www.adweek.com/media/openai-chatgpt-ads-job-listing-marketing-platform/

[2] https://openai.com/careers/growth-paid-marketing-platform-engineer/

[3] https://sources.news/p/openai-ads-leader-sam-altman-memo-stargate

[4] https://stratechery.com/2025/an-interview-with-openai-ceo-sam-altman-about-devday-and-the-ai-buildout/

[5] https://searchengineland.com/sam-altman-chatgpt-ads-pivot-463150

[6] https://x.com/seostrategaEN/status/1915360992470372728

I uploaded a photo on my phone to Microsoft's "OneDrive" file-hosting app — and there was a surprise waiting under Privacy and Permissions. "OneDrive uses AI to recognize faces in your photos..."

And...

"You can only turn off this setting 3 times a year."

If I moved the slidebar for that setting to the left (for "No"), it moved back to the right, and said "Something went wrong while updating this setting." (Apparently it's not one of those three times of the year.)

The feature is already rolling out to a limited number of users in a preview, a Microsoft publicist confirmed to Slashdot. (For the record, I don't remember signing up for this face-recognizing "preview".) But there's a link at the bottom of the screen for a "Microsoft Privacy Statement" that leads to [1]a Microsoft support page , which says instead that "This feature is coming soon and is yet to be released." And in the next sentence it's been saying "Stay tuned for more updates" [2]for almost two years ...

A Microsoft publicist [3]agreed to answer Slashdot's questions ...



[1] https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/office/group-photos-by-people-21065f48-c746-48ad-a98a-cbe4631631bc

[2] https://web.archive.org/web/20231109163626/https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/office/group-photos-by-people-21065f48-c746-48ad-a98a-cbe4631631bc

[3] https://hardware.slashdot.org/story/25/10/11/0238213/microsofts-onedrive-begins-testing-face-recognizing-ai-for-photos-for-some-preview-users#microsoft_spokesperson

Sony and AMD are [1]collaborating on new GPU technologies for the next-generation PlayStation (likely the PS6), introducing innovations like Radiance Cores for advanced ray tracing and "Universal Compression" for improved performance and efficiency. The Verge reports:

> Sony's next console (presumably the PS6) is coming in "a few years time," according to someone who I'd believe to make that claim. Mark Cerny, lead architect on the PS5 and PS5 Pro, joined Jack Huynh, SVP and GM of AMD's computing and graphics group, in [2]a YouTube video wherein the pair spend nine minutes going through some very specific, co-developed advancements in graphics technology that will come to the next console. But the pair cautioned that the technologies are still in "every early days" and "only exist in simulation right now."

>

> Much of it boils down to how the companies are working to make it easier for future GPUs to handle graphics upscaling, ray tracing, and the super-intensive path tracing techniques used to make game worlds look more realistic. Cerny says "the current approach has reached its limit," so Sony is working with AMD to integrate components of its next-gen RDNA architecture in future consoles. AMD's Huynh introduced Radiance Cores (similar in theory to Nvidia's RT Cores) that are dedicated to handling ray tracing and path tracing. In addition to Sony's new consoles having the new cores, they will almost certainly be built into AMD's future desktop GPUs, too, and likely within whatever it's assisting with in its Xbox partnership.



[1] https://www.theverge.com/news/797640/sony-ps6-handheld-gpu-ray-path-tracing-amd-radiance-cores

[2] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1LCMzw-_dMw

Apple is finalizing a deal to [1]acquire the team and computer vision technology of Prompt AI . CNBC reports:

> Leadership at Prompt told employees of the pending transaction at an all-hands meeting on Thursday and said that those who don't end up joining Apple will be paid a reduced salary, and encouraged to apply for open roles at the company, according to audio that was accessed by CNBC.

>

> Prompt was founded in 2023 and raised a $5 million seed round that year led by AIX and Abstract Ventures. Co-founders include CEO Tete Xiao, a notable AI researcher with a Phd in computer science from UC Berkeley, and President Trevor Darrell who was a founder of the Berkeley Artificial Intelligence Research (BAIR) lab. Investors will get paid some money in the deal but "won't be made whole," executives said in the meeting. Prompt employees were asked to refrain from mentioning Apple until further notice while searching for other jobs or updating friends and family on their situation.

>

> Prompt's flagship app, Seemour, connects to home security cameras, adding sophisticated capabilities. The technology helps cameras detect specific people, pets and other animals or objects around a household, and to send alerts and text-based descriptions of unusual activity or answer questions about what's been happening in front of the camera. Xiao told employees at the meeting that while Prompt AI's technology and the Seemour app were working well, the business model wasn't. The company is retiring the Seemour app, and plans to inform users their data will be deleted and privacy protected, executives said.



[1] https://www.cnbc.com/2025/10/10/apple-nears-deal-to-acquire-talent-tech-from-ai-startup-prompt-ai.html

An anonymous reader quotes a report from CBC News:

> The study by a team from Toronto's Hospital for Sick Children (also known as Sick Kids) and St. Michael's Hospital was [1]published in the Journal of the American Medical Association . It found that children who spent more time on screens before age eight [2]scored lower on standardized tests . Child psychiatry researchers say handing kids digital devices, like iPads, every time they have a tantrum could lead to future issues. One new study links too much screen time to emotional and anger management problems.

>

> The study followed more than 3,000 kids in Ontario over a 15 year span from 2008 to 2023, tracking how much time they spent watching TV or DVDs, playing video games, using the computer or playing on handheld devices like iPads, as reported by their parents. That data was compared to their EQAO standardized test scores, which are used to assess the reading and math skills of kids across Ontario in grades 3 and 6. The findings point to a "significant association," between screen use and lower test scores, according to Dr. Catherine Birken, a pediatrician and senior scientist at Sick Kids and lead author of the study.

>

> "For each additional hour of screen use, there was approximately a 10 percent lower odds of meeting standards in both reading and mathematics ... in Grade 3 and mathematics in Grade 6," said Dr. Catherine Birken, a pediatrician and senior scientist at Sick Kids and lead author of the study, in an interview with CBC News. The study didn't differentiate between different types of screen time -- for example, whether a child was playing a game on their iPad versus FaceTiming a relative in another city, or watching an educational video. It was also an observational study that relied on parents answering questionnaires about how much time their kids spent in front of screens. The study authors note that this means the research can't be taken as definitive proof that screen time causes lower grades, just that the two things tend to go hand in hand.



[1] https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jamanetworkopen/fullarticle/2839927

[2] https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/screentime-test-scores-9.6935108

[1]theodp writes:

>

>> GeekWire

> reports that Microsoft is [2]bringing artificial intelligence to every public classroom in its home state -- and sparking new questions about its role in education. The Redmond tech giant on Thursday unveiled [3]Microsoft Elevate Washington , a sweeping new initiative that will provide free access to AI-powered software and training for all 295 public school districts and 34 community and technical colleges across Washington state. The program is part of [4]Microsoft Elevate , the company's broader $4 billion, five-year commitment to support schools and nonprofits with AI tools and training that was announced in July.

>

> "This is our home," Microsoft President Brad Smith said at a launch event on the company's headquarters campus. "A big part of what we're doing today is investing in our home." Smith said Microsoft understands the unease around AI in classrooms but argued that waiting isn't an option. "I don't know that it will be possible to slow down the use of AI, even if someone wanted to," he said. In an [5]interview with KING-TV Seattle , Smith added, "We're making a bigger commitment to this state than we are to any state in the country. [...] Above all else, we want to ensure that people can learn how to use the technology of tomorrow. That's the only way for our kids to succeed in the future."

>

> The event on Thursday also included comedian Trevor Noah, the company's " [6]chief questions officer," as well as Code.org CEO Hadi Partovi. Noah and Partovi both also appeared with Smith at the Microsoft Elevate launch event in July, where Smith told Partovi it was time to " [7]switch hats" from coding to AI , adding that "the last 12 years have been about the Hour of Code [Code.org's flagship event, credited with pushing CS into K-12 classrooms], but the future involves the [8]Hour of AI ." Code.org last month committed to " [9]engage 25M learners in an Hour of AI in school year '25/'26" at a [10]meeting of the White House Task Force on AI Education that preceded a [11]White House dinner for top execs from the nation's leading AI companies.



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

[2] https://www.geekwire.com/2025/microsoft-to-provide-free-copilot-tools-for-washington-state-schools-amid-debate-over-ais-role-in-learning/

[3] https://blogs.microsoft.com/on-the-issues/2025/10/09/microsoft-elevate-washington/

[4] https://slashdot.org/story/25/07/09/176219/microsoft-pledges-4-billion-for-ai-education-training-programs

[5] https://www.msn.com/

[6] https://nypost.com/2024/07/09/tech/trevor-noahs-ties-to-microsoft-under-scrutiny/

[7] https://developers.slashdot.org/story/25/08/10/0110212/hour-of-code-announces-its-now-evolving-into-hour-of-ai

[8] https://developers.slashdot.org/story/25/10/03/1515258/tech-companies-to-k-12-schoolchildren-learn-to-ai-is-the-new-learn-to-code

[9] https://www.whitehouse.gov/articles/2025/09/major-organizations-commit-to-supporting-ai-education/

[10] https://www.msn.com/

[11] https://www.geekwire.com/2025/heres-what-bill-gates-and-satya-nadella-told-president-trump-at-the-white-house-tech-summit/

An anonymous reader quotes a report from Ars Technica:

> Bose will brick key features of its SoundTouch Wi-Fi speakers and soundbars soon. On Thursday, Bose [1]informed customers that as of February 18, 2026, it will [2]stop supporting the devices , and the devices' cloud-based features, including the companion app, will stop working. The SoundTouch app enabled numerous capabilities, including integrating music services, like Spotify and TuneIn, and the ability to program multiple speakers in different rooms to play the same audio simultaneously.

>

> Bose has also said that some saved presets won't work and that users won't be able to change saved presets once the app is gone. Additionally, Bose will stop providing security updates for SoundTouch devices. The Framingham, Massachusetts-headquartered company noted to customers that the speakers will continue being able to play audio from a device connected via AUX or HDMI. Wireless playback will still work over Bluetooth; however, Bluetooth is known to introduce more latency than Wi-Fi connections. Affected customers can trade in their SoundTouch product for a credit worth [3]up to $200 .

>

> In its notice sent to customers this week, Bose provided minimal explanation for end-of-life-ing its pricey SoundTouch speakers, saying: "Bose SoundTouch systems were introduced into the market in 2013. Technology has evolved since then, and we're no longer able to sustain the development and support of the cloud infrastructure that powers this older generation of products. We remain committed to creating new listening experiences for our customers built on modern technologies."



[1] https://www.bose.com/soundtouch-end-of-life?cjdata=MXxOfDB8WXww&utm_source=Commission+Junction&utm_medium=Affiliate&utm_campaign=5370367&Publisher=Skimlinks&cjevent=99056c7ea63511f081ff006a0a1eba22

[2] https://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2025/10/bose-soundtouch-home-theater-systems-regress-into-dumb-speakers-feb-18/

[3] https://support.bose.com/s/product-offer?stepName=serialnumber&language=en_US

A new HSBC [1]survey shows that [2]over half of wealthy entrepreneurs are considering moving abroad , not for tax reasons but for business expansion, investment access, and lifestyle improvements. Singapore tops the list of preferred destinations, followed by the UK, Japan, and Switzerland -- while the U.S. has slipped to fifth place. CNBC reports:

> The bank polled 2,939 business owners with at least $2 million in investible assets or a total net worth of $20 million during April and May of this year. A whopping 57% reported they were considering adding a new residence over the next 12 months, up from 55% in last year's survey. Wanderlust is greater among Gen Z entrepreneurs, with just over three-quarters in that cohort reporting they were considering a move.

>

> When asked about their reasons for moving to a new country, only a third of all respondents cited tax efficiency as a motivator. Tax savings ranked eighth overall behind other factors such as improved security and safety (47%) and better education opportunities (52%). Respondents to the survey could select multiple options. The most popular motives at 67% each were to expand their business to new markets or to gain access to new investment opportunities. The desire for a better quality of life came in a close third at 63%. Taxes, the report said, "create acres of news coverage, but among the majority of our entrepreneurs, this does not appear to be the deciding factor about where to live."



[1] https://www.ipsos.com/en-uk/entrepreneurs-are-seizing-global-opportunities

[2] https://www.cnbc.com/2025/10/10/entrepreneurs-moving-motivations-hsbc-survey.html

Toyota is fast-tracking its long-promised all-solid-state EV batteries through a [1]new partnership with Sumitomo Metal Mining, aiming to debut its [2]first production vehicle using the technology by 2027 or 2028 . Electrek reports:

> Toyota said that its new batteries could significantly enhance driving range, charging times, and output, potentially transforming the future of automobiles. Compared to current liquid-based batteries, which use electrolyte solutions, Toyota's all-solid-state batteries utilize a cathode, an anode, and a solid electrolyte. According to Toyota, the next-gen battery tech "offers the potential for smaller size, higher output, and longer life."

>

> The two companies have been developing cathode materials for all-solid-state EV batteries since 2021, focusing on some of the biggest challenges in producing them at a mass scale. Using Sumitomo Metal Mining's proprietary powder synthesis technology, Toyota claimed to have developed a "highly durable cathode material" for all-solid-state batteries. Sumitomo has been supplying cathode materials for electric vehicles for years, but it's now working to introduce the newly developed tech, moving it toward mass production.



[1] https://global.toyota/en/newsroom/corporate/43380876.html

[2] https://electrek.co/2025/10/08/toyota-aims-to-launch-worlds-first-all-solid-state-ev-batteries/

An anonymous reader quotes a report from KrebsOnSecurity:

> The world's largest and most disruptive botnet is now drawing a majority of its firepower from compromised Internet-of-Things (IoT) devices hosted on U.S. Internet providers like AT&T, Comcast and Verizon, new evidence suggests. Experts say the heavy concentration of infected devices at U.S. providers is complicating efforts to limit collateral damage from the botnet's attacks, which shattered previous records this week with a brief traffic flood that clocked in at nearly 30 trillion bits of data per second.

>

> Since its debut more than a year ago, the Aisuru botnet has steadily outcompeted virtually all other IoT-based botnets in the wild, with recent attacks siphoning Internet bandwidth from an estimated 300,000 compromised hosts worldwide. The hacked systems that get subsumed into the botnet are mostly consumer-grade routers, security cameras, digital video recorders and other devices operating with insecure and outdated firmware, and/or factory-default settings. Aisuru's owners are continuously scanning the Internet for these vulnerable devices and enslaving them for use in distributed denial-of-service (DDoS) attacks that can overwhelm targeted servers with crippling amounts of junk traffic.

>

> As Aisuru's size has mushroomed, so has its punch. In May 2025, KrebsOnSecurity was hit with a [1]near-record 6.35 terabits per second (Tbps) attack from Aisuru, which was then the largest assault that Google's DDoS protection service Project Shield had ever mitigated. Days later, Aisuru shattered that record with a data blast in excess of 11 Tbps. By late September, Aisuru was publicly flexing DDoS capabilities [2]topping 22 Tbps . Then on October 6, its operators heaved a whopping 29.6 terabits of junk data packets each second at a targeted host. Hardly anyone noticed because it appears to have been a brief test or demonstration of Aisuru's capabilities: The traffic flood lasted less only a few seconds and was pointed at an Internet server that was specifically designed to measure large-scale DDoS attacks.

>

> Aisuru's overlords aren't just showing off. Their botnet is being blamed for a series of increasingly massive and disruptive attacks. Although recent assaults from Aisuru have targeted mostly ISPs that serve online gaming communities like Minecraft, those digital sieges often result in widespread collateral Internet disruption. For the past several weeks, ISPs hosting some of the Internet's top gaming destinations have been [3]hit with a relentless volley of gargantuan attacks that experts say are well beyond the DDoS mitigation capabilities of most organizations connected to the Internet today.



[1] https://tech.slashdot.org/story/25/05/20/2215258/krebsonsecurity-hit-with-near-record-63-tbps-ddos

[2] https://it.slashdot.org/story/25/09/24/2010227/record-breaking-ddos-attack-peaks-at-22-tbps-and-10-bpps

[3] https://krebsonsecurity.com/2025/10/ddos-botnet-aisuru-blankets-us-isps-in-record-ddos/

OpenAI and Sur Energy have signed a letter of intent to [1]build a $25 billion, 500-megawatt data center in Argentina , marking OpenAI's first major infrastructure project in Latin America. The "Stargate Argentina" initiative is backed by Argentina's RIGI tax incentives and positioned as "one of the largest technology and energy infrastructure initiatives" in the nation's history.

"We are proud to announce plans to launch Stargate Argentina, an exciting new infrastructure project in partnership with one of the country's leading energy companies, Sur Energy," OpenAI CEO Sam Altman said on social media. Altman added that the region was "full of talent, creativity and ambition."



[1] https://www.reuters.com/world/americas/openai-sur-energy-weigh-25-billion-argentina-data-center-project-2025-10-10/