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Highguard game developer lays off staff just two weeks after release

BBC Tech News - Thu, 02/12/2026 - 5:19am
Its trailer got a prime Game Awards slot, but the online shooter has failed to find a large audience.

15 Best Bed Frames (2026), Tested in Our Homes

Wired Top Stories - Thu, 02/12/2026 - 5:03am
Looking for the best bed frame? Our top pick is the Classic Bed from Thuma. Explore our other favorites, which include options for all budgets and tastes.

US Hacking Tool Boss Stole and Sold Exploits To Russian Broker That Could Target Millions of Devices, DOJ Says

Slashdot - Thu, 02/12/2026 - 4:00am
Federal prosecutors have revealed that Peter Williams, the former general manager of U.S. defense contractor L3Harris's hacking tools division Trenchant, sold eight stolen software exploits to a Russian broker whose customers -- including the Russian government -- could have used them to access "millions of computers and devices around the world." Williams, a 39-year-old Australian national, pleaded guilty in October and admitted to earning more than $1.3 million in cryptocurrency from the sales between 2022 and 2025. In a sentencing memorandum filed Tuesday ahead of his anticipated February 24 sentencing in a Washington, D.C., federal court, the Justice Department asked the judge for nine years in prison, $35 million in restitution, and a maximum fine of $250,000. Prosecutors described the unnamed Russian buyer -- believed to be Operation Zero, which publicly claims to sell only to the Russian government -- as "one of the world's most nefarious exploit brokers." Williams chose it because, by his own admission, "he knew they paid the most." He also oversaw the wrongful firing of a subordinate who was blamed for the theft.

Read more of this story at Slashdot.

Siri's AI Overhaul Delayed Again

Slashdot - Thu, 02/12/2026 - 1:00am
Apple's long-promised overhaul of Siri has hit fresh problems during internal testing, forcing the company to push several key features out of the iOS 26.4 update that was slated for March and spread them across later releases, Bloomberg is reporting. The new Siri -- first announced at WWDC in June 2024 and originally due by early 2025 -- struggles to reliably process queries, takes too long to respond and sometimes falls back on OpenAI's ChatGPT instead of Apple's own technology, the report said. Apple has instructed engineers to begin testing new Siri capabilities on iOS 26.5 instead, due in May, and internal builds of that update include a settings toggle labeled "preview" for the personal data features. A more ambitious chatbot-style Siri code-named Campo, powered by Google servers and a custom Gemini model, is in development for iOS 27 in September.

Read more of this story at Slashdot.

Anthropic Safety Researcher Quits, Warning 'World is in Peril'

Slashdot - Wed, 02/11/2026 - 10:44pm
An anonymous reader shares a report: An Anthropic safety researcher quit, saying the "world is in peril" in part over AI advances. Mrinank Sharma said the safety team "constantly [faces] pressures to set aside what matters most," citing concerns about bioterrorism and other risks. Anthropic was founded with the explicit goal of creating safe AI; its CEO Dario Amodei said at Davos that AI progress is going too fast and called for regulation to force industry leaders to slow down. Other AI safety researchers have left leading firms, citing concerns about catastrophic risks.

Read more of this story at Slashdot.

With Ring, American Consumers Built a Surveillance Dragnet

Slashdot - Wed, 02/11/2026 - 8:45pm
Ring's Super Bowl ad on Sunday promoted "Search Party," a feature that lets a user post a photo of a missing dog in the Ring app and triggers outdoor Ring cameras across the neighborhood to use AI to scan for a match. 404 Media argues the cheerful premise obscures what the Amazon-owned company has become: a massive, consumer-deployed surveillance network. Ring founder Jamie Siminoff, who left in 2023 and returned last year, has since moved to re-establish police partnerships and push more AI into Ring cameras. The company has also partnered with Flock, a surveillance firm used by thousands of police departments, and launched a beta feature called "Familiar Faces" that identifies known people at your door. Chris Gilliard, author of the upcoming book Luxury Surveillance, called the ad "a clumsy attempt by Ring to put a cuddly face on a rather dystopian reality: widespread networked surveillance by a company that has cozy relationships with law enforcement." Further reading: No One, Including Our Furry Friends, Will Be Safer in Ring's Surveillance Nightmare, EFF Says

Read more of this story at Slashdot.

Instagram boss says 16 hours of daily use is 'problematic' not addiction

BBC Tech News - Wed, 02/11/2026 - 8:19pm
Instagram's Adam Mosseri faced questioning about the impact of his platform on minors.

Instagram boss says 16 hours of daily use is 'problematic' not addiction

BBC Tech News - Wed, 02/11/2026 - 8:19pm
Instagram's Adam Mosseri faced questioning about the impact of his platform on minors.

Instagram boss says 16 hours of daily use is 'problematic' not addiction

BBC Tech News - Wed, 02/11/2026 - 8:19pm
Instagram's Adam Mosseri faced questioning about the impact of his platform on minors.

Is Linux Mint Burning Out? Developers Consider Longer Release Cycle

Slashdot - Wed, 02/11/2026 - 5:45pm
BrianFagioli writes: The Linux Mint developers say they are considering adopting a longer development cycle, arguing that the project's current six month cadence plus LMDE releases leaves too little room for deeper work. In a recent update, the team reflected on its incremental philosophy, independence from upstream decisions like Snap, and heavy investment in Cinnamon and XApp. While the release process "works very well" and delivers steady improvements, they admit it consumes significant time in testing, fixing, and shipping, potentially capping ambition. Mint's next release will be based on a new Ubuntu LTS, and the team says it is seriously interested in stretching the development window. The stated goal is to free up resources for more substantial development rather than constant release management. Whether this signals bigger technical changes or simply acknowledges bandwidth limits for a small team remains unclear, but it marks a notable rethink of one of desktop Linux's most consistent release rhythms.

Read more of this story at Slashdot.

Boston Dynamics CEO steps down after 7 years

Mass High Tech News - Wed, 02/11/2026 - 4:41pm
"A new CEO will bring the experience and energy required for this next phase," Robert Playter wrote in a note to his employees.

Massive battery storage facility opens in Gorham, furthering Mills’ energy agenda

Portland Press Herald Business - Wed, 02/11/2026 - 4:33pm
At 175 megawatts, Cross Town Energy Storage is the largest facility of its kind in New England.

A Hellish 'Hothouse Earth' Getting Closer, Scientists Say

Slashdot - Wed, 02/11/2026 - 4:00pm
The world is closer than thought to a "point of no return" after which runaway global heating cannot be stopped, scientists have said. From a report: Continued global heating could trigger climate tipping points, leading to a cascade of further tipping points and feedback loops, they said. This would lock the world into a new and hellish "hothouse Earth" climate far worse than the 2-3C temperature rise the world is on track to reach. The climate would also be very different to the benign conditions of the past 11,000 years, during which the whole of human civilisation developed. At just 1.3C of global heating in recent years, extreme weather is already taking lives and destroying livelihoods across the globe. At 3-4C, "the economy and society will cease to function as we know it," scientists said last week, but a hothouse Earth would be even more fiery. The public and politicians were largely unaware of the risk of passing the point of no return, the researchers said. The group said they were issuing their warning because while rapid and immediate cuts to fossil fuel burning were challenging, reversing course was likely to be impossible once on the path to a hothouse Earth, even if emissions were eventually slashed. It was difficult to predict when climate tipping points would be triggered, making precaution vital, said Dr Christopher Wolf, a scientist at Terrestrial Ecosystems Research Associates in the US. Wolf is a member of a study team that includes Prof Johan Rockstrom at the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research in Germany and Prof Hans Joachim Schellnhuber at the International Institute for Applied Systems Analysis in Austria.

Read more of this story at Slashdot.

The National Observer: Startups charting a different exit path

Mass High Tech News - Wed, 02/11/2026 - 3:08pm
Startups used to count on a final, gigantic payout — either a public offering or a corporate acquisition. Now, many founders and early investors are charting a new course to exit the business.

Here are 4 new Westbrook restaurants that opened this year

Portland Press Herald Business - Wed, 02/11/2026 - 3:05pm
Westbrook welcomed a new Thai restaurant, a bar, an Indian restaurant and a diner.

US Had Almost No Job Growth in 2025

Slashdot - Wed, 02/11/2026 - 3:01pm
An anonymous reader shares a report: The U.S. economy experienced almost zero job growth in 2025, according to revised federal data. On a more encouraging note: hiring has picked up in 2026. Preliminary data had indicated that the U.S. economy added 584,000 jobs last year. But the Bureau of Labor Statistics revised that number after it received additional state data, and found that the labor market had added 181,000 jobs in all of 2025. This is far fewer than the 1.46 million jobs that were added in 2024. One bright spot was last month, when hiring increased by 130,000 roles. This was significantly more than the 55,000 additions that had been expected by economists. "Job gains occurred in health care, social assistance, and construction, while federal government and financial activities lost jobs," BLS said in a statement.

Read more of this story at Slashdot.

Gross Confection Bar in Portland’s Old Port is closing

Portland Press Herald Business - Wed, 02/11/2026 - 2:26pm
The bakery side of the business, however, is set to expand.

Marquis Lounge opens Friday in Portland

Portland Press Herald Business - Wed, 02/11/2026 - 2:23pm
The cocktail and wine bar has taken over the former Sagamore Hill space on Park Street.

Mass. Innovation Nights returns after 6-year hiatus with Museum of Science partnership

Mass High Tech News - Wed, 02/11/2026 - 2:04pm
For 11 years, Massachusetts Innovation Nights hosted an in-person pitch-and-networking event every month—until the pandemic hit. Now, it's back.

EVs Could Be Cheaper To Own Than Gas Cars in Africa by 2040

Slashdot - Wed, 02/11/2026 - 2:00pm
Electric vehicles accounted for just 1% of new car sales across Africa in 2025, but a study published in Nature Energy by researchers at ETH Zurich finds that EVs paired with solar off-grid charging systems -- solar panels, batteries and an inverter -- could become cheaper to own than gas-powered equivalents across most of the continent by 2040. The analysis considered total cost of ownership including sticker price, financing and fuel or charging costs, but excluded policy-related factors like taxes and subsidies. Electric two-wheelers could reach cost parity even sooner, by the end of the decade, thanks to smaller battery packs. Small cars remain the toughest segment. The biggest obstacle is financing: in some African countries, political instability and economic uncertainty push borrowing costs so high that interest on an EV loan can exceed the vehicle's purchase price. South Africa, Mauritius and Botswana are already near the financing conditions needed for cost parity; countries like Sudan and Ghana would need drastic cuts.

Read more of this story at Slashdot.

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