Europe's Public Institutions Are Quietly Ditching US Cloud Providers European public institutions are quietly migrating away from American cloud providers and office software, driven less by policy ambitions in Brussels than by the mundane legal reality that GDPR-mandated risk assessments keep flagging the US CLOUD Act as an unacceptable threat to citizen data. Austria's Federal Ministry for Economy, Energy and Tourism moved 1,200 employees to the open-source platform Nextcloud in four months. Germany's Schleswig-Holstein has already transitioned 24,000 of its 30,000 civil servants to LibreOffice, Nextcloud and Thunderbird. The International Criminal Court in The Hague announced in November 2025 that it would replace Microsoft office software after chief prosecutor Karim Khan was temporarily locked out of his Outlook account. Competition economist Cristina Caffarra estimates that 90% of Europe's digital infrastructure is now controlled by non-European companies. Forrester predicts no European enterprise will fully abandon US hyperscalers in 2026, but these targeted migrations for sensitive government applications are already underway. <a href="http://twitter.com/home?status=Europe's+Public+Institutions+Are+Quietly+Ditching+US+Cloud+Providers%3A+https%3A%2F%2Ftech.slashdot.org%2Fstory%2F25%2F12%2F23%2F1843236%2F%3Futm_source%3Dtwitter%26utm_medium%3Dtwitter" rel="nofollow"><img src="https://a.fsdn.com/sd/twitter_icon_large.png"></a> <a href="http://www.facebook.com/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Ftech.slashdot.org%2Fstory%2F25%2F12%2F23%2F1843236%2Feuropes-public-institutions-are-quietly-ditching-us-cloud-providers%3Futm_source%3Dslashdot%26utm_medium%3Dfacebook" rel="nofollow"><img src="https://a.fsdn.com/sd/facebook_icon_large.png"></a>

Europe

European public institutions are quietly migrating away from American cloud providers and office software, driven less by policy ambitions in Bruss...

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Europe

European public institutions are quietly migrating away from American cloud providers and office software, driven less by policy ambitions in Bruss...

Samsung's 2026 Gaming Monitors Promise 6K, 3D, and Up To 1,040Hz An anonymous reader shares a report: Samsung is breaking new ground with its 2026 lineup of gaming monitors, with the Odyssey 3D G90XH becoming the first to feature a 6K display with "glasses-free 3D." The new monitor comes with a 32-inch IPS panel, offering real-time eye-tracking that "adjusts depth and perspective" based on your position, along with a speedy 165Hz refresh rate that you can boost to 330Hz with a Dual Mode feature that switches to 3K. [...] A 6K 3D display isn't the only notable upgrade coming to Samsung's lineup; the company is launching the Odyssey G6 G60H, which it says is the "world's first" 1,040Hz gaming monitor. The 27-inch monitor only supports this ultra-fast refresh rate in HD, while its native 1440p resolution still offers speeds up to a very fast 600Hz. It's also compatible with AMD FreeSync Premium and NVIDIA G-Sync. <a href="http://twitter.com/home?status=Samsung's+2026+Gaming+Monitors+Promise+6K%2C+3D%2C+and+Up+To+1%2C040Hz%3A+https%3A%2F%2Fentertainment.slashdot.org%2Fstory%2F25%2F12%2F23%2F1944212%2F%3Futm_source%3Dtwitter%26utm_medium%3Dtwitter" rel="nofollow"><img src="https://a.fsdn.com/sd/twitter_icon_large.png"></a> <a href="http://www.facebook.com/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fentertainment.slashdot.org%2Fstory%2F25%2F12%2F23%2F1944212%2Fsamsungs-2026-gaming-monitors-promise-6k-3d-and-up-to-1040hz%3Futm_source%3Dslashdot%26utm_medium%3Dfacebook" rel="nofollow"><img src="https://a.fsdn.com/sd/facebook_icon_large.png"></a>

Samsung

An anonymous reader shares a report: Samsung is breaking new ground with its 2026 lineup of gaming monitors, with the Odyssey 3D G90XH becoming the...

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Samsung

An anonymous reader shares a report: Samsung is breaking new ground with its 2026 lineup of gaming monitors, with the Odyssey 3D G90XH becoming the...

Remote Work is Officially Dead, Says the World's Largest Recruiter The great return-to-office battle has effectively concluded and a clear pecking order has emerged, according to Sander van 't Noordende, the CEO of Randstad, a staffing giant that places around half a million workers in jobs every week. Remote work is becoming a status symbol reserved for star performers and those possessing rare skills. "You have to be very special to be able to demand a 100% remote job," van 't Noordende told Fortune. "That's increasingly the story. You have to have very special technology skills or some expertise." The equilibrium appears to be settling at a hybrid model of three to four days in office for most workers. Van 't Noordende noted that apart from some banks in major cities, the five-day office week isn't returning as the norm despite hardline mandates from companies like Amazon and JPMorgan. Korn Ferry predicted this "hybrid hierarchy" at the start of 2025, forecasting that flexibility would become a perk reserved for top talent. At some companies, high performers are already being offered flexible schedules as a bonus while mid-range employees don't get the privilege, the Wall Street Journal reported. <a href="http://twitter.com/home?status=Remote+Work+is+Officially+Dead%2C+Says+the+World's+Largest+Recruiter%3A+https%3A%2F%2Fslashdot.org%2Fstory%2F25%2F12%2F23%2F1836252%2F%3Futm_source%3Dtwitter%26utm_medium%3Dtwitter" rel="nofollow"><img src="https://a.fsdn.com/sd/twitter_icon_large.png"></a> <a href="http://www.facebook.com/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fslashdot.org%2Fstory%2F25%2F12%2F23%2F1836252%2Fremote-work-is-officially-dead-says-the-worlds-largest-recruiter%3Futm_source%3Dslashdot%26utm_medium%3Dfacebook" rel="nofollow"><img src="https://a.fsdn.com/sd/facebook_icon_large.png"></a>

Remote Work is Officially Dead, Says the World

The great return-to-office battle has effectively concluded and a clear pecking order has emerged, according to Sander van

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Remote Work is Officially Dead, Says the World

The great return-to-office battle has effectively concluded and a clear pecking order has emerged, according to Sander van

5K Gaming Is Too Hard, Even for an RTX 5090D Asus has been showcasing its new 5K 27-inch ROG Strix 27 Pro gaming monitor running at 5,120 x 2,880 resolution and up to 180Hz, but even Nvidia's flagship RTX 5090 struggles to deliver smooth frame rates at this demanding pixel count. In testing conducted by Asus, the RTX 5090D -- a Chinese-exclusive variant with weaker AI performance -- achieved just 51 frames per second in a Cyberpunk 2077 benchmark at ultra ray traced settings. The test system ran an AMD Ryzen 9950X3D processor, had DLSS set to balanced, and kept frame generation disabled. The same configuration running at 4K managed 77 fps, around 50% higher. The underlying math is simple: 5K resolution requires rendering 78% more pixels than 4K. That 218 PPI pixel density delivers impressive sharpness up close, but Asus chose an IPS panel over OLED technology to reach it, trading away deeper black levels and faster response times. Asus appears to be positioning the monitor as a dual-mode display -- 5K for productivity and video, 1440p at up to 330Hz for gaming. Early Chinese listings have it priced at the equivalent of $800, roughly what you'd pay for a larger 4K OLED panel. <a href="http://twitter.com/home?status=5K+Gaming+Is+Too+Hard%2C+Even+for+an+RTX+5090D%3A+https%3A%2F%2Fgames.slashdot.org%2Fstory%2F25%2F12%2F23%2F1728203%2F%3Futm_source%3Dtwitter%26utm_medium%3Dtwitter" rel="nofollow"><img src="https://a.fsdn.com/sd/twitter_icon_large.png"></a> <a href="http://www.facebook.com/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fgames.slashdot.org%2Fstory%2F25%2F12%2F23%2F1728203%2F5k-gaming-is-too-hard-even-for-an-rtx-5090d%3Futm_source%3Dslashdot%26utm_medium%3Dfacebook" rel="nofollow"><img src="https://a.fsdn.com/sd/facebook_icon_large.png"></a>

5K Gaming Is Too Hard, Even for an RTX 5090D - Slashdot

Asus has been showcasing its new 5K 27-inch ROG Strix 27 Pro gaming monitor running at 5,120 x 2,880 resolution and up to 180Hz, but even Nvidia

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5K Gaming Is Too Hard, Even for an RTX 5090D - Slashdot

Asus has been showcasing its new 5K 27-inch ROG Strix 27 Pro gaming monitor running at 5,120 x 2,880 resolution and up to 180Hz, but even Nvidia

Ryanair Fined $301M Over 'Abusive Strategy' To Limit Ticket Sales By Online Travel Agencies Speaking of Italy's competition authority , it has fined Ryanair $301 million for abusing its dominant market position to limit sales of tickets by online travel agents. The Guardian: The authority said Europe's largest airline had "implemented an abusive strategy to hinder travel agencies" via an "elaborate strategy" of technical obstacles for agents and passengers to make it difficult for online travel agents to sell Ryanair tickets and instead force sales through its own website. The fine related to Ryanair's conduct between April 2023 and at least until April 2025, the authority said on Tuesday. It said Ryanair had prevented online travel agents from selling tickets on its flights in combination with other airlines and services, weakening competition. Ryanair said it would immediately appeal against the "legally flawed" ruling. <a href="http://twitter.com/home?status=Ryanair+Fined+%24301M+Over+'Abusive+Strategy'+To+Limit+Ticket+Sales+By+Online+Travel+Agencies%3A+https%3A%2F%2Fslashdot.org%2Fstory%2F25%2F12%2F23%2F1516239%2F%3Futm_source%3Dtwitter%26utm_medium%3Dtwitter" rel="nofollow"><img src="https://a.fsdn.com/sd/twitter_icon_large.png"></a> <a href="http://www.facebook.com/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fslashdot.org%2Fstory%2F25%2F12%2F23%2F1516239%2Fryanair-fined-301m-over-abusive-strategy-to-limit-ticket-sales-by-online-travel-agencies%3Futm_source%3Dslashdot%26utm_medium%3Dfacebook" rel="nofollow"><img src="https://a.fsdn.com/sd/facebook_icon_large.png"></a>

Ryanair Fined $301M Over

Speaking of Italy

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Ryanair Fined $301M Over

Speaking of Italy

Apple Fined $116 Million Over App Privacy Prompts Apple has been fined $116 million by Italy's antitrust regulator over the "excessively burdensome" privacy rules it imposes on third-party apps. From a report: The Italian Competition Authority (AGCM) says that Apple abused its dominant app store market position by burdening developers with "disproportionate" terms around data collection that exceed privacy law requirements, compared to rules for native iOS apps. The fine specifically targets the App Tracking Transparency (ATT) policy Apple launched in 2021, which requires third-party developers to ask users for consent twice to track their data across other apps and websites. Apple's own apps can obtain this permission in a single tap. AGCM says that the burden of consenting twice led to a reduction in user consent rates for advertising profiling, thus harming developers whose business models depend upon revenue generated by personalized ads. <a href="http://twitter.com/home?status=Apple+Fined+%24116+Million+Over+App+Privacy+Prompts%3A+https%3A%2F%2Fapple.slashdot.org%2Fstory%2F25%2F12%2F23%2F151231%2F%3Futm_source%3Dtwitter%26utm_medium%3Dtwitter" rel="nofollow"><img src="https://a.fsdn.com/sd/twitter_icon_large.png"></a> <a href="http://www.facebook.com/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fapple.slashdot.org%2Fstory%2F25%2F12%2F23%2F151231%2Fapple-fined-116-million-over-app-privacy-prompts%3Futm_source%3Dslashdot%26utm_medium%3Dfacebook" rel="nofollow"><img src="https://a.fsdn.com/sd/facebook_icon_large.png"></a>

Apple Fined $116 Million Over App Privacy Prompts - Slashdot

Apple has been fined $116 million by Italy

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Apple Fined $116 Million Over App Privacy Prompts - Slashdot

Apple has been fined $116 million by Italy

FCC Bans Foreign-Made Drones Over National Security, Spying Concerns The FCC has banned approval of new foreign-made drones and components, citing "an unacceptable risk" to national security. The move will most heavily impact DJI but it "does not affect drones or drone components that are currently sold in the United States." Reuters reports: The tech was placed on the commission's "Covered List," barring DJI and other foreign drone manufacturers from receiving the FCC's approval to sell new drone models for import or sale in the U.S. In Monday's announcement, the agency said that the move "will reduce the risk of direct [drone] attacks and disruptions, unauthorized surveillance, sensitive data exfiltration and other [drone] threats to the homeland." FCC Chair Brendan Carr said in a statement that while drones offer the potential to boost public safety and the U.S.' posture on global innovation, "criminals, terrorists and hostile foreign actors have intensified their weaponization of these technologies, creating new and serious threats to our homeland." The ruling comes as China hawks in Congress amplify warnings about the security risks of drones made by DJI, which accounts for more than 90% of the global market share. But efforts to crack down on Capitol Hill have been met with some pushback due to the potential impacts of curbing the drone usage on U.S. businesses and law enforcement. A wide variety of sectors, including construction, energy, agriculture and mining companies, as well as local police and fire departments across the country, deploy DJI-made drones. <a href="http://twitter.com/home?status=FCC+Bans+Foreign-Made+Drones+Over+National+Security%2C+Spying+Concerns%3A+https%3A%2F%2Fnews.slashdot.org%2Fstory%2F25%2F12%2F23%2F0036201%2F%3Futm_source%3Dtwitter%26utm_medium%3Dtwitter" rel="nofollow"><img src="https://a.fsdn.com/sd/twitter_icon_large.png"></a> <a href="http://www.facebook.com/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fnews.slashdot.org%2Fstory%2F25%2F12%2F23%2F0036201%2Ffcc-bans-foreign-made-drones-over-national-security-spying-concerns%3Futm_source%3Dslashdot%26utm_medium%3Dfacebook" rel="nofollow"><img src="https://a.fsdn.com/sd/facebook_icon_large.png"></a>

FCC Bans Foreign-Made Drones Over National Security, Spying Concerns - Slashdot

The FCC has banned approval of new foreign-made drones and components, citing &#34;an unacceptable risk&#34; to national security. The move will mo...

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FCC Bans Foreign-Made Drones Over National Security, Spying Concerns - Slashdot

The FCC has banned approval of new foreign-made drones and components, citing &#34;an unacceptable risk&#34; to national security. The move will mo...

Microsoft To Replace All C/C++ Code With Rust By 2030 Microsoft plans to eliminate all C and C++ code across its major codebases by 2030, replacing it with Rust using AI-assisted, large-scale refactoring. "My goal is to eliminate every line of C and C++ from Microsoft by 2030," Microsoft Distinguished Engineer Galen Hunt writes in a post on LinkedIn. "Our strategy is to combine AI and Algorithms to rewrite Microsoft's largest codebases. Our North Star is '1 engineer, 1 month, 1 million lines of code.' To accomplish this previously unimaginable task, we've built a powerful code processing infrastructure. Our algorithmic infrastructure creates a scalable graph over source code at scale. Our AI processing infrastructure then enables us to apply AI agents, guided by algorithms, to make code modifications at scale. The core of this infrastructure is already operating at scale on problems such as code understanding." Hunt says he's looking to hire a Principal Software Engineer to help with this effort. "The purpose of this Principal Software Engineer role is to help us evolve and augment our infrastructure to enable translating Microsoft's largest C and C++ systems to Rust," writes Hunt. "A critical requirement for this role is experience building production quality systems-level code in Rust -- preferably at least 3 years of experience writing systems-level code in Rust. Compiler, database, or OS implementation experience is highly desired. While compiler implementation experience is not required to apply, the willingness to acquire that experience in our team is required." <a href="http://twitter.com/home?status=Microsoft+To+Replace+All+C%2FC%2B%2B+Code+With+Rust+By+2030%3A+https%3A%2F%2Fdevelopers.slashdot.org%2Fstory%2F25%2F12%2F23%2F010200%2F%3Futm_source%3Dtwitter%26utm_medium%3Dtwitter" rel="nofollow"><img src="https://a.fsdn.com/sd/twitter_icon_large.png"></a> <a href="http://www.facebook.com/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fdevelopers.slashdot.org%2Fstory%2F25%2F12%2F23%2F010200%2Fmicrosoft-to-replace-all-cc-code-with-rust-by-2030%3Futm_source%3Dslashdot%26utm_medium%3Dfacebook" rel="nofollow"><img src="https://a.fsdn.com/sd/facebook_icon_large.png"></a>

Microsoft To Replace All C/C++ Code With Rust By 2030 - Slashdot

Microsoft plans to eliminate all C and C++ code across its major codebases by 2030, replacing it with Rust using AI-assisted, large-scale refactori...

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Microsoft To Replace All C/C++ Code With Rust By 2030 - Slashdot

Microsoft plans to eliminate all C and C++ code across its major codebases by 2030, replacing it with Rust using AI-assisted, large-scale refactori...

Alphabet Acquires Data Center and Energy Infrastructure Company Intersect For $4.75 Billion Alphabet is acquiring Intersect for $4.75 billion to accelerate data center and power-generation capacity as AI infrastructure demand surges. CNBC reports: Alphabet said Intersect's operations will remain independent, but that the acquisition will help bring more data center and generation capacity online faster. "Intersect will help us expand capacity, operate more nimbly in building new power generation in lockstep with new data center load, and reimagine energy solutions to drive U.S. innovation and leadership," Sundar Pichai, CEO of Google and Alphabet, said in a statement. Google already had a minority stake in Intersect from a funding round that was announced last December. In a release at the time, Intersect said its strategic partnership with Google and TPG Rise Climate aimed to develop gigawatts of data center capacity across the U.S., including a $20 billion investment in renewable power infrastructure by the end of the decade. Alphabet said Monday that Intersect will work closely with Google's technical infrastructure team, including on the companies' co-located power site and data center in Haskell County, Texas. Google previously announced a $40 billion investment in Texas through 2027, which includes new data center campuses in the state's Haskell and Armstrong counties. <a href="http://twitter.com/home?status=Alphabet+Acquires+Data+Center+and+Energy+Infrastructure+Company+Intersect+For+%244.75+Billion%3A+https%3A%2F%2Fnews.slashdot.org%2Fstory%2F25%2F12%2F22%2F226229%2F%3Futm_source%3Dtwitter%26utm_medium%3Dtwitter" rel="nofollow"><img src="https://a.fsdn.com/sd/twitter_icon_large.png"></a> <a href="http://www.facebook.com/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fnews.slashdot.org%2Fstory%2F25%2F12%2F22%2F226229%2Falphabet-acquires-data-center-and-energy-infrastructure-company-intersect-for-475-billion%3Futm_source%3Dslashdot%26utm_medium%3Dfacebook" rel="nofollow"><img src="https://a.fsdn.com/sd/facebook_icon_large.png"></a>

Alphabet Acquires Data Center and Energy Infrastructure Company Intersect For $4.75 Billion - Slashdot

Alphabet is acquiring Intersect for $4.75 billion to accelerate data center and power-generation capacity as AI infrastructure demand surges. CNBC ...

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Alphabet Acquires Data Center and Energy Infrastructure Company Intersect For $4.75 Billion - Slashdot

Alphabet is acquiring Intersect for $4.75 billion to accelerate data center and power-generation capacity as AI infrastructure demand surges. CNBC ...

Cyberattack Disrupts France's Postal Service, Banking During Christmas Rush An anonymous reader quotes a report from the Associated Press: With just three days to go before Christmas, a cyberattack knocked France's national postal service offline Monday, blocking and delaying package deliveries and online payments. The timing was miserable for millions of people at the height of the Christmas season, as frazzled postal workers fended off frustrated customers. No one immediately claimed responsibility, but suspicions abounded. What the postal service La Poste called a ''major network incident'' remained unresolved by Monday evening, more than eight hours after it was first reported. For a company that delivered 2.6 billion packages last year and employs more than 200,000 people, that's a big hit. La Poste said in a statement that a distributed denial of service incident, or DDoS, "rendered its online services inaccessible." It said the incident had no impact on customer data, but disrupted package delivery. Letters, including holiday greeting cards, could still be mailed and delivered. But transactions requiring tracking or access to the postal service internal computer systems were impossible. The cyberattack also hurt online banking. Customers of the company's banking arm, La Banque Postale, were blocked from using the application to approve payments or conduct other banking services. The bank redirected approvals to text messages instead. "Our teams are mobilized to resolve the situation quickly," the bank said in messages posted on social networks. The disruption came a week after France's government was targeted by a cyberattack that targeted the Interior Ministry, in charge of national security. <a href="http://twitter.com/home?status=Cyberattack+Disrupts+France's+Postal+Service%2C+Banking+During+Christmas+Rush%3A+https%3A%2F%2Fit.slashdot.org%2Fstory%2F25%2F12%2F22%2F2158219%2F%3Futm_source%3Dtwitter%26utm_medium%3Dtwitter" rel="nofollow"><img src="https://a.fsdn.com/sd/twitter_icon_large.png"></a> <a href="http://www.facebook.com/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fit.slashdot.org%2Fstory%2F25%2F12%2F22%2F2158219%2Fcyberattack-disrupts-frances-postal-service-banking-during-christmas-rush%3Futm_source%3Dslashdot%26utm_medium%3Dfacebook" rel="nofollow"><img src="https://a.fsdn.com/sd/facebook_icon_large.png"></a>

Cyberattack Disrupts France

An anonymous reader quotes a report from the Associated Press: With just three days to go before Christmas, a cyberattack knocked France

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Cyberattack Disrupts France

An anonymous reader quotes a report from the Associated Press: With just three days to go before Christmas, a cyberattack knocked France

Call of Duty Co-Creator, Respawn Co-Founder, and EA Exec Vince Zampella Killed In Car Accident Vince Zampella, the co-creator of Call of Duty and co-founder of Infinity Ward and Respawn Entertainment, died at 55 in a single-car accident in Los Angeles. According to NBC Los Angeles, "The single-car crash was reported at about 12:45 p.m. on the scenic road north of Los Angeles in the San Gabriel Mountains. The southbound car veered off the road, hit a concrete barrier and a passenger was ejected, the California Highway Patrol said. The driver was trapped in the ensuing car fire, the CHP said. The driver died at the scene and the passenger died at a hospital, authorities told NBC4 Investigates." IGN reports: Zampella was an incredibly talented game developer who changed the industry with Call of Duty, a franchise he co-created with Jason West in 2003 at Infinity Ward, the studio he co-founded with West, after previously serving as the lead designer for EA's Medal of Honor: Allied Assault. Zampella was at the center of a high-profile lawsuit against Activision that alleged that the publisher owed Zampella and the Infinity Ward team millions of dollars in unpaid Call of Duty royalties. The bitter professional divorce led to Zampella and West taking a substantial number of the Infinity Ward team with them to EA, where they co-founded Respawn Entertainment, a studio that has produced nothing but critically acclaimed hits: Titanfall, Titanfall 2, Apex Legends, Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order, and Star Wars Jedi: Survivor. Respawn's success under Zampella led to him getting promoted twice, eventually overseeing the Battlefield franchise within his role as Group General Manager at EA. <a href="http://twitter.com/home?status=Call+of+Duty+Co-Creator%2C+Respawn+Co-Founder%2C+and+EA+Exec+Vince+Zampella+Killed+In+Car+Accident%3A+https%3A%2F%2Fgames.slashdot.org%2Fstory%2F25%2F12%2F22%2F2143219%2F%3Futm_source%3Dtwitter%26utm_medium%3Dtwitter" rel="nofollow"><img src="https://a.fsdn.com/sd/twitter_icon_large.png"></a> <a href="http://www.facebook.com/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fgames.slashdot.org%2Fstory%2F25%2F12%2F22%2F2143219%2Fcall-of-duty-co-creator-respawn-co-founder-and-ea-exec-vince-zampella-killed-in-car-accident%3Futm_source%3Dslashdot%26utm_medium%3Dfacebook" rel="nofollow"><img src="https://a.fsdn.com/sd/facebook_icon_large.png"></a>

Call of Duty Co-Creator, Respawn Co-Founder, and EA Exec Vince Zampella Killed In Car Accident - Slashdot

Vince Zampella, the co-creator of Call of Duty and co-founder of Infinity Ward and Respawn Entertainment, died at 55 in a single-car accident in Lo...

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Call of Duty Co-Creator, Respawn Co-Founder, and EA Exec Vince Zampella Killed In Car Accident - Slashdot

Vince Zampella, the co-creator of Call of Duty and co-founder of Infinity Ward and Respawn Entertainment, died at 55 in a single-car accident in Lo...

US Blocks All Offshore Wind Construction, Says Reason Is Classified An anonymous reader quotes a report from Ars Technica: On Monday, the US Department of the Interior announced that it was pausing the leases on all five offshore wind sites currently under construction in the US. The move comes despite the fact that these projects already have installed significant hardware in the water and on land; one of them is nearly complete. In what appears to be an attempt to avoid legal scrutiny, the Interior is blaming the decisions on a classified report from the Department of Defense. The second Trump administration announced its animosity toward offshore wind power literally on day one, issuing an executive order on inauguration day that called for a temporary halt to issuing permits for new projects pending a re-evaluation. Earlier this month, however, a judge vacated that executive order, noting that the government has shown no indication that it was even attempting to start the re-evaluation it said was needed. But a number of projects have gone through the entire permitting process, and construction has started. Before today, the administration had attempted to stop these in an erratic, halting manner. Empire Wind, an 800 MW farm being built off New York, was stopped by the Department of the Interior, which alleged that it had been rushed through permitting. That hold was lifted following lobbying and negotiations by New York and the project developer Orsted, and the Department of the Interior never revealed why it changed its mind. When the Interior Department blocked a second Orsted project, Revolution Wind offshore of southern New England, the company took the government to court and won a ruling that let it continue construction. Today's announcement targets those and three other projects. Interior says it is pausing the permits for all five, which are the only projects currently under construction. It claims that offshore wind creates "national security risks" that were revealed in a recent analysis performed by the Department of Defense, which apparently neglected to identify these issues during the evaluations it did while the projects were first permitted. What are these risks? The Interior Department is being extremely coy. It notes that offshore wind turbines can interfere with radar sensing, but that's been known for a while. In announcing the decision, Interior Secretary Doug Burgum also noted "the rapid evolution of the relevant adversary technologies." But the announcement says that the Defense Department analysis is classified, meaning nobody is likely to know what the actual reason is -- presuming one exists. The classification will also make it far more challenging to contest this decision in court. <a href="http://twitter.com/home?status=US+Blocks+All+Offshore+Wind+Construction%2C+Says+Reason+Is+Classified%3A+https%3A%2F%2Fnews.slashdot.org%2Fstory%2F25%2F12%2F22%2F2133214%2F%3Futm_source%3Dtwitter%26utm_medium%3Dtwitter" rel="nofollow"><img src="https://a.fsdn.com/sd/twitter_icon_large.png"></a> <a href="http://www.facebook.com/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fnews.slashdot.org%2Fstory%2F25%2F12%2F22%2F2133214%2Fus-blocks-all-offshore-wind-construction-says-reason-is-classified%3Futm_source%3Dslashdot%26utm_medium%3Dfacebook" rel="nofollow"><img src="https://a.fsdn.com/sd/facebook_icon_large.png"></a>

US Blocks All Offshore Wind Construction, Says Reason Is Classified - Slashdot

An anonymous reader quotes a report from Ars Technica: On Monday, the US Department of the Interior announced that it was pausing the leases on all...

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US Blocks All Offshore Wind Construction, Says Reason Is Classified - Slashdot

An anonymous reader quotes a report from Ars Technica: On Monday, the US Department of the Interior announced that it was pausing the leases on all...

Australian Eateries Turn To Automatic Tipping as Cost of Doing Business Climbs Australian restaurants facing a mounting cost-of-doing-business crisis are turning to automatic service charges as a way to shore up revenue. The practice is legal under Australian consumer law as long as customers are notified beforehand and can opt out, but it risks alienating diners in a country where tipping has traditionally been optional. Wes Lambert, chief executive of the Australian Cafe and Restaurant Association, said only a handful of businesses in central business districts currently add automatic tips to bills, but the practice may spread as cost pressures continue. Automatic tipping is more common at venues frequented by international tourists, who view the practice as normal rather than exceptional. With international tourism now near pre-COVID levels, Lambert expects more restaurants to include tips on bills by default. A Sydney wine bar recently abandoned its 10 per cent automatic tip after a diner's social media post triggered public backlash. University of New South Wales professor Rob Nichols said Australia's resistance to tipping stems from the expectation that hospitality workers earn at least minimum wage, unlike in the United States where tips constitute most of a server's income. Australians and tourists tip an estimated $3.5 billion annually, and tipping transactions grew 13% year over year in fiscal 2024-25. <a href="http://twitter.com/home?status=Australian+Eateries+Turn+To+Automatic+Tipping+as+Cost+of+Doing+Business+Climbs%3A+https%3A%2F%2Fslashdot.org%2Fstory%2F25%2F12%2F22%2F202229%2F%3Futm_source%3Dtwitter%26utm_medium%3Dtwitter" rel="nofollow"><img src="https://a.fsdn.com/sd/twitter_icon_large.png"></a> <a href="http://www.facebook.com/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fslashdot.org%2Fstory%2F25%2F12%2F22%2F202229%2Faustralian-eateries-turn-to-automatic-tipping-as-cost-of-doing-business-climbs%3Futm_source%3Dslashdot%26utm_medium%3Dfacebook" rel="nofollow"><img src="https://a.fsdn.com/sd/facebook_icon_large.png"></a>

Australian Eateries Turn To Automatic Tipping as Cost of Doing Business Climbs - Slashdot

Australian restaurants facing a mounting cost-of-doing-business crisis are turning to automatic service charges as a way to shore up revenue. The p...

at Slashdot.

Australian Eateries Turn To Automatic Tipping as Cost of Doing Business Climbs - Slashdot

Australian restaurants facing a mounting cost-of-doing-business crisis are turning to automatic service charges as a way to shore up revenue. The p...

Visa Says AI Will Start Shopping and Paying For You In 2026 BrianFagioli writes: Visa says it has completed hundreds of secure, AI-initiated transactions with partners, arguing this proves agent driven shopping is ready to move beyond experiments. The company believes 2025 will be the last full year most consumers manually check out, with AI agents handling purchases at scale by the 2026 holiday season. Nearly half of US shoppers already use AI tools for product discovery, and Visa wants to extend that shift all the way through payment using its Intelligent Commerce framework. The pilots are already live in controlled environments, powering consumer and business purchases through AI agents tied to Visa's payment rails. To prevent abuse, Visa and partners have introduced a Trusted Agent Protocol to help merchants distinguish legitimate AI agents from bots, with Akamai adding fraud and identity controls. While the infrastructure may be ready, the bigger question is whether consumers fully understand the risks of letting software spend their money. <a href="http://twitter.com/home?status=Visa+Says+AI+Will+Start+Shopping+and+Paying+For+You+In+2026%3A+https%3A%2F%2Fslashdot.org%2Fstory%2F25%2F12%2F22%2F1210214%2F%3Futm_source%3Dtwitter%26utm_medium%3Dtwitter" rel="nofollow"><img src="https://a.fsdn.com/sd/twitter_icon_large.png"></a> <a href="http://www.facebook.com/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fslashdot.org%2Fstory%2F25%2F12%2F22%2F1210214%2Fvisa-says-ai-will-start-shopping-and-paying-for-you-in-2026%3Futm_source%3Dslashdot%26utm_medium%3Dfacebook" rel="nofollow"><img src="https://a.fsdn.com/sd/facebook_icon_large.png"></a>

Visa Says AI Will Start Shopping and Paying For You In 2026 - Slashdot

BrianFagioli writes: Visa says it has completed hundreds of secure, AI-initiated transactions with partners, arguing this proves agent driven shopp...

at Slashdot.

Visa Says AI Will Start Shopping and Paying For You In 2026 - Slashdot

BrianFagioli writes: Visa says it has completed hundreds of secure, AI-initiated transactions with partners, arguing this proves agent driven shopp...

State of Play: Who Holds the Power in the Video Games Industry in 2025? The video games industry in 2025 finds itself caught between the familiar forces of consolidation and job losses that have plagued creative industries, and a newer development: governments and the ultra-wealthy have begun treating games as tools of political influence. Saudi Arabia's Public Investment Fund closed a $55 billion deal for EA this year and acquired Niantic, the makers of Pokemon Go, in March. Microsoft's 2023 acquisition of Activision already signaled the direction of travel. The workforce has borne the costs of this consolidation. More than 5,000 jobs have been lost in the industry this year, and several studios have shuttered, including Monolith Productions. The instability has pushed unions into greater prominence: United Videogame Workers formed in the US and Canada in March as part of the Communications Workers of America, and the firing of 30 staff from Rockstar Games in the UK brought the IWGB Game Workers Union into the spotlight. Meanwhile, the Trump administration has posted AI-generated images of the president as Halo's Master Chief and used Pokemon and Halo memes to recruit for ICE. <a href="http://twitter.com/home?status=State+of+Play%3A+Who+Holds+the+Power+in+the+Video+Games+Industry+in+2025%3F%3A+https%3A%2F%2Fgames.slashdot.org%2Fstory%2F25%2F12%2F22%2F126233%2F%3Futm_source%3Dtwitter%26utm_medium%3Dtwitter" rel="nofollow"><img src="https://a.fsdn.com/sd/twitter_icon_large.png"></a> <a href="http://www.facebook.com/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fgames.slashdot.org%2Fstory%2F25%2F12%2F22%2F126233%2Fstate-of-play-who-holds-the-power-in-the-video-games-industry-in-2025%3Futm_source%3Dslashdot%26utm_medium%3Dfacebook" rel="nofollow"><img src="https://a.fsdn.com/sd/facebook_icon_large.png"></a>

State of Play: Who Holds the Power in the Video Games Industry in 2025? - Slashdot

The video games industry in 2025 finds itself caught between the familiar forces of consolidation and job losses that have plagued creative industr...

at Slashdot.

State of Play: Who Holds the Power in the Video Games Industry in 2025? - Slashdot

The video games industry in 2025 finds itself caught between the familiar forces of consolidation and job losses that have plagued creative industr...

Welcome To America's New Surveillance High Schools Beverly Hills High School has deployed an AI-powered surveillance apparatus that includes facial recognition cameras, behavioral analysis software, smoke detector-shaped bathroom listening devices from Motorola, drones, and license plate readers from Flock Safety -- a setup the district spent $4.8 million on in the 2024-2025 fiscal year and considers necessary given the school's high-profile location in Los Angeles. Similar systems are spreading to campuses nationwide as schools try to stop mass shootings that killed 49 people on school property this year, 59 in 2024, and 45 in 2023. A 2023 ACLU report found that eight of the ten largest school shootings since Columbine occurred at schools that already had surveillance systems, and 32% of students surveyed said they felt like they were always being watched. The technology has a spotty track record, however. Gun detection vendor Evolv, used by more than 800 schools including Beverly Hills High, was reprimanded by the FTC in 2024 for claiming its AI could detect all weapons after it failed to flag a seven-inch knife used to stab a student in 2022. Evolv has also flagged laptops and water bottles as guns. Rival vendor Omnilert flagged a 16-year-old student at a Maryland high school reaching for an empty Doritos bag as a possible gun threat; police held the teenager at gunpoint. Not every school is buying in. Highline Schools in Washington state cancelled its $33,000 annual ZeroEyes contract this year and spent the money on defibrillators and Ford SUVs for its safety team instead. <a href="http://twitter.com/home?status=Welcome+To+America's+New+Surveillance+High+Schools%3A+https%3A%2F%2Fnews.slashdot.org%2Fstory%2F25%2F12%2F22%2F1154232%2F%3Futm_source%3Dtwitter%26utm_medium%3Dtwitter" rel="nofollow"><img src="https://a.fsdn.com/sd/twitter_icon_large.png"></a> <a href="http://www.facebook.com/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fnews.slashdot.org%2Fstory%2F25%2F12%2F22%2F1154232%2Fwelcome-to-americas-new-surveillance-high-schools%3Futm_source%3Dslashdot%26utm_medium%3Dfacebook" rel="nofollow"><img src="https://a.fsdn.com/sd/facebook_icon_large.png"></a>

Welcome To America

Beverly Hills High School has deployed an AI-powered surveillance apparatus that includes facial recognition cameras, behavioral analysis software,...

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Welcome To America

Beverly Hills High School has deployed an AI-powered surveillance apparatus that includes facial recognition cameras, behavioral analysis software,...

iRobot Founder Says FTC Treated Blocked Deals 'Like Trophies' as Bankruptcy Follows Failed Amazon Acquisition Colin Angle, the founder of iRobot who built the company from his living room over 35 years and sold more than 50 million Roomba vacuums, watched his creation file for Chapter 11 bankruptcy earlier this month after what he describes as an "avoidable" regulatory ordeal that killed Amazon's $1.7 billion acquisition bid. In an interview with TechCrunch, Angle recounted the 18-month investigation by the FTC and European regulators that preceded Amazon's January 2024 decision to abandon the deal. The process consumed over 100,000 documents and a significant portion of iRobot's discretionary earnings. Angle said the deal should have taken "three, four weeks of investigation" given iRobot's declining market position -- 12% and falling in Europe, where the leading competitor was only three years old. During his deposition, Angle said he walked the halls of the FTC and noticed examiners had "printouts of deals blocked, like trophies" on their office doors. He entered the process "looking for a friend" and instead encountered the question: "Why should we ever let them do this?" Further reading: WSJ Editorial Board Says Lina Khan Killed iRobot. <a href="http://twitter.com/home?status=iRobot+Founder+Says+FTC+Treated+Blocked+Deals+'Like+Trophies'+as+Bankruptcy+Follows+Failed+Amazon+Acquisition%3A+https%3A%2F%2Fslashdot.org%2Fstory%2F25%2F12%2F22%2F1147243%2F%3Futm_source%3Dtwitter%26utm_medium%3Dtwitter" rel="nofollow"><img src="https://a.fsdn.com/sd/twitter_icon_large.png"></a> <a href="http://www.facebook.com/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fslashdot.org%2Fstory%2F25%2F12%2F22%2F1147243%2Firobot-founder-says-ftc-treated-blocked-deals-like-trophies-as-bankruptcy-follows-failed-amazon-acquisition%3Futm_source%3Dslashdot%26utm_medium%3Dfacebook" rel="nofollow"><img src="https://a.fsdn.com/sd/facebook_icon_large.png"></a>

iRobot Founder Says FTC Treated Blocked Deals

Colin Angle, the founder of iRobot who built the company from his living room over 35 years and sold more than 50 million Roomba vacuums, watched h...

at Slashdot.

iRobot Founder Says FTC Treated Blocked Deals

Colin Angle, the founder of iRobot who built the company from his living room over 35 years and sold more than 50 million Roomba vacuums, watched h...

Spotify Says 'Anti-Copyright Extremists' Scraped Its Library A group of activists has scraped Spotify's entire library, accessing 256 million rows of track metadata and 86 million audio files totaling roughly 300TB of data. The metadata has been released via Anna's Archive, a search engine for "shadow libraries" that previously focused on books. Spotify described the activists as "anti-copyright extremists who've previously pirated content from YouTube and other platforms" and confirmed it is actively investigating the incident. The activists claim this represents "the world's first 'preservation archive' for music which is fully open" and covers "around 99.6% of listens." They appear to have used Spotify's public web API to scrape the metadata and circumvented DRM to access audio files. Spotify insists that this is not a security breach affecting user data. Though the more pressing concern for the music industry may be AI training rather than pirate streaming services -- similar YouTube datasets have reportedly been used by unlicensed generative AI music services. <a href="http://twitter.com/home?status=Spotify+Says+'Anti-Copyright+Extremists'+Scraped+Its+Library%3A+https%3A%2F%2Fentertainment.slashdot.org%2Fstory%2F25%2F12%2F22%2F1128259%2F%3Futm_source%3Dtwitter%26utm_medium%3Dtwitter" rel="nofollow"><img src="https://a.fsdn.com/sd/twitter_icon_large.png"></a> <a href="http://www.facebook.com/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fentertainment.slashdot.org%2Fstory%2F25%2F12%2F22%2F1128259%2Fspotify-says-anti-copyright-extremists-scraped-its-library%3Futm_source%3Dslashdot%26utm_medium%3Dfacebook" rel="nofollow"><img src="https://a.fsdn.com/sd/facebook_icon_large.png"></a>

Spotify Says

A group of activists has scraped Spotify

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Spotify Says

A group of activists has scraped Spotify

Is Xbox Betting on Cross-Platform Gaming? A "slew of layoffs, price hikes and studio closures" for Microsoft's Xbox "have led many to declare — not for the first time — that the Xbox is dead," reports CNBC. Or is it just changing its business model? The company's overall gaming revenue decreased 2% year-over-year, with a 29% dip in Xbox hardware sales, according to Microsoft's first-quarter earnings for fiscal 2026. The broader console industry has been in a major slump, with hardware spending down 27% year-over-year in November, which is typically a busy shopping month, according to a recent report from research firm Circana. It was the worst November in two decades, IGN reported, citing Circana data. Combined Switch and Switch 2 unit sales were down more than 10% during the month and PS5 sales were down more than 40%, IGN said. But the Xbox Series hardware took the biggest beating, with a dramatic 70% drop in sales...Microsoft's Xbox Series S and Series X, at 1.7 million units, couldn't outsell the original Nintendo Switch, which launched in 2017 and has sold 3.4 million units so far this year, data from game sales tracking site VGChartz estimated... Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella said in a recent interview with the TBPN podcast that the company's gaming business model will look to be "everywhere in every platform," from consoles to TV to mobile. His comments also hinted that the next Xbox may function more like a PC. "It's kind of funny people think about the console and PC as two different things," Nadella said. "We built a console because we wanted to build a better PC, which could then perform for gaming. So I kind of want to revisit some of that conventional wisdom...." A source familiar with Xbox strategy told CNBC that the company is looking at creating an open system that enables players to jump between console, PC and cloud gaming — and any form of entertainment beyond gaming. [Wedbush analyst Michael Pachter told CNBC] that while Microsoft is not completely abandoning hardware, the company is splitting its audience into existing buyers interested in specialized consoles and everyone else. Xbox Game Pass subscription service, which gives subscribers access to games from a variety of publishers, is a clear example of this strategy... The growth in cloud gaming has been blistering. Xbox reported a record 34 million Game Pass subscribers in 2024 and a total Game Pass revenue of almost $5 billion over the last fiscal year. Xbox said in a November blog post that the number of cloud gaming hours from Game Pass subscribers was up 45% compared to the same time last year. The Microsoft subsidiary also said console players are "spending 45% more time cloud streaming on console and 24% more on other devices..." Despite gaming's scaling limitations, Microsoft seems committed to doing what it has done with the rest of its products — moving it to the cloud... [Xbox President Sarah] Bond recently said in an interview with Mashable that the idea of exclusive games is "antiquated" as the company has leaned into cross-platform gaming... Xbox is betting that cloud and cross-platform gaming are the future. For a decade, claims have been made about the death of the Xbox, and what comes next could fully spell the end, or bring a metamorphosis. <a href="http://twitter.com/home?status=Is+Xbox+Betting+on+Cross-Platform+Gaming%3F%3A+https%3A%2F%2Fgames.slashdot.org%2Fstory%2F25%2F12%2F22%2F0721241%2F%3Futm_source%3Dtwitter%26utm_medium%3Dtwitter" rel="nofollow"><img src="https://a.fsdn.com/sd/twitter_icon_large.png"></a> <a href="http://www.facebook.com/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fgames.slashdot.org%2Fstory%2F25%2F12%2F22%2F0721241%2Fis-xbox-betting-on-cross-platform-gaming%3Futm_source%3Dslashdot%26utm_medium%3Dfacebook" rel="nofollow"><img src="https://a.fsdn.com/sd/facebook_icon_large.png"></a>

Is Xbox Betting on Cross-Platform Gaming? - Slashdot

A &#34;slew of layoffs, price hikes and studio closures&#34; for Microsoft

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Is Xbox Betting on Cross-Platform Gaming? - Slashdot

A &#34;slew of layoffs, price hikes and studio closures&#34; for Microsoft

Apple Developer's Account Restored After Compromised Gift Card Incident "It's all fixed," says that Apple developer who was locked out of his Apple Account after redeeming a compromised Apple Gift Card. "A lovely man from Singapore, working for Apple Executive Relations, who has been calling me every so often for a couple of days, has let me know it's all fixed. It looks like the gift card I tried to redeem, which did not work for me, and did not credit my account, was already redeemed in some way (sounds like classic gift card tampering), and my account was caught by that. "Obviously it's unacceptable that this can happen, and I'm still trying to get more information out of him, but at least things are now mostly working. "Strangely, he did tell me to only ever buy gift cards from Apple themselves; I asked if that means Apple's supply chain of Blackhawk Network, InComm, and other gift card vendors is insecure, and he was unwilling to comment." Updates to his original blog post now include a frequently-asked questions list: Yes, I have the receipt for the card, including the activation receipt. Yes, the card was legitimately purchased, it's not from eBay. Yes, I have contacted the retailer. Yes, I do have backups... No, I don't know why parts of the account still kinda work, and parts don't. No, I didn't write this article with AI... Yes, Apple really did use emojis in their Live Chat... <a href="http://twitter.com/home?status=Apple+Developer's+Account+Restored+After+Compromised+Gift+Card+Incident%3A+https%3A%2F%2Fapple.slashdot.org%2Fstory%2F25%2F12%2F22%2F0741256%2F%3Futm_source%3Dtwitter%26utm_medium%3Dtwitter" rel="nofollow"><img src="https://a.fsdn.com/sd/twitter_icon_large.png"></a> <a href="http://www.facebook.com/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fapple.slashdot.org%2Fstory%2F25%2F12%2F22%2F0741256%2Fapple-developers-account-restored-after-compromised-gift-card-incident%3Futm_source%3Dslashdot%26utm_medium%3Dfacebook" rel="nofollow"><img src="https://a.fsdn.com/sd/facebook_icon_large.png"></a>

Apple Developer

&#34;It

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Apple Developer

&#34;It