Webtagr - Technology News Summarizer

Microsoft Tests Ad-Supported, Feature-Limited Free Office for Windows

2025-02-28

Microsoft is testing a free, ad-supported version of its Office suite for Windows. This limited version includes stripped-down versions of Word, Excel, and PowerPoint, omitting many advanced features. For example, Word lacks tables and mail merge, Excel lacks PivotTables and Power Query, and PowerPoint lacks custom slideshows. Documents must be saved to OneDrive for editing; local files are read-only. The "free" version displays 15-second video ads every few hours and a persistent ad sidebar. While Microsoft officially denies plans for a free, ad-supported desktop Office, this test suggests exploration of this monetization model, potentially leading to pre-installation on new PCs or other distribution methods.

(office-watch.com)

Tech ad-supported

Microsoft's Copilot Leaks 20,000+ Private GitHub Repositories

2025-02-28

Security firm Lasso revealed that Microsoft's Copilot AI assistant exposed over 20,000 private GitHub repositories belonging to companies like Google, Intel, and Huawei. These repositories, initially public, were later set to private but remained accessible via Copilot due to Bing's caching mechanism. Even after Microsoft addressed the Bing cache issue in November, Copilot continued to access a private repository removed due to a Microsoft lawsuit, highlighting significant data security risks associated with large language models.

(arstechnica.com)

Tech

GitHub Data Leaks: Even Briefly Public Repos Linger in Copilot

2025-02-28

Security researchers warn that data exposed on the internet, even momentarily, can persist in generative AI chatbots like Microsoft Copilot. Lasso, an Israeli cybersecurity firm, found over 20,000 once-public GitHub repositories, now private, still accessible via Copilot. This affects major companies including Microsoft, Amazon, Google, and others, potentially exposing sensitive corporate data, keys, and tokens. Microsoft classified the issue as "low severity" and removed Bing cache links from search results in December 2024, but Lasso argues this isn't a complete fix.

(techcrunch.com)

Tech Data Leak

Microsoft Quietly Pulling the Plug on Classic Outlook?

2025-02-28

Microsoft is phasing out the classic Outlook client in favor of its new, still-under-development version. Despite promises of a 12-month transition period, many users are reporting that new installations of Microsoft 365 no longer include the classic Outlook. The new Outlook suffers from several shortcomings, including poor offline support, inability to write to PST files, lack of S/MIME encryption, and missing cross-mailbox functionality. As a result, many users still need the classic version. Fortunately, users can download the classic Outlook from Microsoft's website or the Microsoft Store, or obtain it from the 'offline installer' package available through their Microsoft account.

(office-watch.com)

Tech Email Client

Type 1 Diabetes Reversed in Mice Using Engineered Blood Vessels

2025-02-27

A preclinical study shows that transplanting insulin-producing cells alongside engineered blood vessel-forming cells successfully reversed type 1 diabetes in mice. The innovative approach involved co-implanting human islets and reprogrammed vascular endothelial cells (R-VECs) under the skin, creating a vascularized network that produced insulin and normalized blood glucose for over 20 weeks. This breakthrough offers hope for a cure, though challenges remain in scaling up production and avoiding immunosuppression before clinical trials in humans.

(newatlas.com)

Tech Type 1 Diabetes Cell Transplantation Vascular Engineering

Technicolor Files for Bankruptcy Protection, Thousands of VFX Jobs at Risk

2025-02-27

Visual effects giant Technicolor, home to MPC, The Mill, and other prominent brands, has filed for bankruptcy protection in France after failing to secure new investors. The move threatens thousands of VFX jobs across the US, UK, Canada, and India. Some employees are already finding new opportunities; for example, a portion of The Mill's US team is launching a new venture, Arc Creative, with Dream Machine FX. Technicolor's struggles highlight challenges in the post-production industry, raising concerns within the VFX community and jeopardizing numerous ongoing film projects.

(variety.com)

Tech Visual Effects

Slim Cuts Ties with Starlink: A $22 Billion Bet on Self-Built Infrastructure

2025-02-27

Mexican billionaire Carlos Slim has canceled his collaboration with Elon Musk's Starlink, a deal worth a staggering $22 billion. Following a controversial tweet by Musk implying Slim's ties to organized crime, tensions escalated. Slim's decision to invest $22 billion in building his own telecommunications infrastructure strengthens his market position in Latin America. However, this move represents a significant loss for Starlink, costing them a major partner, substantial revenue, and potentially ceding ground to Chinese companies, impacting US commercial presence in the region.

(mexicodailypost.com)

Tech Slim

Groundbreaking Immunotherapy for Brain Cancer to Enter Large-Scale Clinical Trial

2025-02-27

An Australian-led international clinical trial will scientifically investigate the efficacy of a double immunotherapy approach in treating glioblastoma. The trial, led by The Brain Cancer Centre, a collaboration of world-leading oncologists, immunologists, and neurosurgeons, will test double immunotherapy, with some patients also receiving chemotherapy. While early results are promising, researchers emphasize the need for a large-scale clinical trial before it can be considered a breakthrough.

(www.wehi.edu.au)

Tech glioblastoma clinical trial

IBM Acquires HashiCorp: Building a Comprehensive Hybrid Cloud Platform

2025-02-27

IBM has completed its acquisition of HashiCorp, a leader in automating and securing the infrastructure for hybrid cloud applications and generative AI. This acquisition strengthens IBM's hybrid cloud offerings, enabling clients to accelerate innovation, enhance security, and maximize cloud value. HashiCorp's products, such as Terraform and Vault, will integrate with IBM's Red Hat, watsonx, and other technologies, creating powerful synergies. This move solidifies IBM's position in the hybrid cloud market and demonstrates its continued investment in automation software to help organizations optimize IT spending and reduce costs.

(newsroom.ibm.com)

Tech Hybrid Cloud

NVIDIA's RIVA 128: From Near Bankruptcy to GPU Domination

2025-02-27

This is the first in a series of posts detailing the architecture of NVIDIA's first commercially successful product, the RIVA 128 graphics card. The author recounts NVIDIA's early struggles, including the failures of the NV1 and NV2 chips, and the desperate race against bankruptcy to develop the RIVA 128. The RIVA 128's success catapulted NVIDIA to its current position as a dominant force in AI and GPUs. The post provides a deep dive into the RIVA 128's architecture, covering its memory mapping, interrupt system, DMA engine, and object system, revealing the complexity and ingenuity of this iconic GPU.

(86box.net)

Tech

WordPress Parent Company Sued for Blocking Third-Party Service Provider

2025-02-27

Automattic, the parent company of WordPress, is accused of breaching its promise of 'forever free' access by blocking the third-party service provider, WPE, leading to significant losses for WPE's clients. WPE alleges that Automattic abused its trademark rights by cutting off access to software updates, security patches, and plugins, and attempted to poach its customers. This has caused a major controversy, with WPE filing a lawsuit claiming Automattic's actions constitute fraud and unfair competition, harming the internet ecosystem.

(arstechnica.com)

Tech Lawsuit

LoomLetter: AI-Powered Newsletter Reader for Busy Professionals

2025-02-27

LoomLetter is a revolutionary newsletter reader that provides a dedicated email address for subscribing to your favorite newsletters. All newsletters are delivered to LoomLetter, organized, and easily accessible via AI-powered narration and smart filters. The Early Adopter Program offers exclusive early access to new features and allows your feedback to shape the app's future. LoomLetter differentiates itself by focusing on convenience for busy professionals, offering AI narration, easy-access widgets, and powerful organization tools to combat inbox clutter and prioritize essential information.

(www.loomletter.app)

Tech

Locating RFI Sources Using Near-Field Corrections: A Study for 21cm Cosmology During the Epoch of Reionization

2025-02-27

Researchers have developed a novel method to locate radio frequency interference (RFI) sources, particularly those from near-field objects like airplanes, using near-field corrections. This method combines far-field phasing, near-field corrections, and beamforming to precisely pinpoint the 3D location of RFI emitters by maximizing the coherence of curved near-field signals. This is more efficient than traditional flagging, preserving more usable data and enhancing the chances of detecting the 21cm signal during the Epoch of Reionization. Results demonstrate effective altitude estimation of RFI emitters, revealing performance differences under varying observational conditions, laying the groundwork for more precise RFI removal in the future.

(www.cambridge.org)

Tech Radio Frequency Interference 21cm Cosmology Epoch of Reionization

Nigerian Cloud Startups Rise to Challenge Global Giants

2025-02-27

Facing exorbitant dollar-denominated AWS bills and currency volatility, Nigerian entrepreneur Fara Ashiru migrated her fintech platform Okra's cloud infrastructure to local data centers, launching Nebula to offer cloud services with naira payments. This spurred a surge in Nigerian cloud startups like Nobus, Galaxy, Suburban, and Layer3, providing affordable, localized alternatives and addressing data sovereignty concerns. While giants like AWS now accept naira, local providers leverage data sovereignty, low latency, and cost-effective colocation strategies to compete. However, they face challenges in infrastructure and user experience improvements to match global giants.

(restofworld.org)

Tech Nigeria data sovereignty

Google Pixels Detect Subway Track Defects

2025-02-27

The New York City MTA partnered with Google on a four-month experiment using six Pixel phones equipped with sensors to detect track defects on the A train line. The phones collected audio, vibration, and location data to train an AI model predicting defects. The experiment identified 92% of defect locations later found by human inspectors. This technology, called TrackInspect, aims to improve efficiency in track maintenance, reducing delays and improving the passenger experience. A full pilot program is planned to develop an automated system for identifying and fixing track issues.

(www.wired.com)

Tech Track Inspection

Critical Apple Device Vulnerability: Unpatched Devices Nearby Enable Attacks

2025-02-27

Research reveals a critical vulnerability in Apple devices that allows attackers to compromise infected computers using nearby unpatched iPhones or Apple Watches. While Apple has released patches in iOS 18.2 and other operating systems to address the flaw, the attack remains effective as long as unupdated devices are within range. The research was supported by the US National Science Foundation and the Commonwealth Cyber Initiative.

(nroottag.github.io)

Tech Apple vulnerability device security

The Upside-Down Air Force: Secret ECM Testing Revealed

2025-02-27

The Air Force Research Laboratory tests electronic countermeasures (ECM) equipment by suspending aircraft (typically without tails) upside-down near instrumentation, avoiding the need for flight tests. This method checks for blind spots and interference from external munitions. While unofficially known as the 'Upside-Down Air Force', it tests aircraft from all services. All photos were taken from public roads.

(www.frontiernet.net)

Tech Military ECM

Muon g-2 Mystery: Standard Model Showdown or New Physics?

2025-02-27

The 2021 Muon g-2 experiment at Fermilab revealed a significant discrepancy between the measured anomalous magnetic moment of the muon and the Standard Model prediction, hinting at new physics. However, a recent alternative Standard Model prediction suggests the Fermilab result is consistent with the Standard Model. This has sparked a heated debate in the particle physics community: does the Standard Model need revision, or have we discovered new physics? The next few years will be crucial, with the release of Fermilab's final Muon g-2 results and more precise calculations of strong interaction contributions offering a definitive answer—a landmark event in particle physics.

(physicsworld.com)

Tech standard model new physics

Build Your Own Muon Detector for Under $100

2025-02-27

Inspired by Nobel laureate Luis Alvarez's muon-based pyramid exploration, the author built a muon detector for around $100. Using two Geiger counters and an Arduino Nano, the device cleverly distinguishes cosmic-ray muons from lower-energy particles through a coincidence method. Experiments verified its ability to detect muon flux variations with angle and successfully measured rock thickness changes deep within a gold mine, even sensing a vertical shaft. This demonstrates the feasibility of exploring Earth's inner structure with simple equipment.

(spectrum.ieee.org)

Tech Muon Detection Cosmic Rays DIY Science

Microsoft Pushes Trump Admin to Relax AI Chip Export Restrictions

2025-02-27

Microsoft is pressing the Trump administration to loosen and simplify a new system restricting sales of cutting-edge U.S. AI chips to much of the world. In a blog post, Microsoft called for easing limits on chips used in data centers for training AI models, exempting U.S.-friendly nations like India, Switzerland, and Israel. These countries fall under the second tier of a three-tier export control system.

(www.wsj.com)

Tech

Australia Bans Kaspersky Lab Products Over Security Concerns

2025-02-27

The Australian government has banned all Kaspersky Lab products and web services from its systems, citing unacceptable security risks related to foreign interference, espionage, and sabotage. Kaspersky denies these allegations, claiming the ban lacks specific evidence and is politically motivated. This follows similar bans in the US, Germany, and Canada, reflecting a broader trend of Western nations restricting Kaspersky's access to government systems.

(www.bleepingcomputer.com)

Tech Kaspersky

Mozilla Firefox's New Terms of Service Raises Eyebrows: Overreach on User Data?

2025-02-27

Mozilla recently updated Firefox's terms of service, adding a clause granting Mozilla a royalty-free license to use information uploaded or input through Firefox. This sparked community concern over excessive user data access. The article compares Mozilla's terms with those of other browsers (Chrome, Edge, Safari, etc.), revealing Mozilla's as significantly broader, extending to all user activity, even on local networks. The author questions the necessity and potential legal risks, highlighting privacy concerns. While Mozilla claims it's for legal protection, the author argues the clause doesn't effectively prevent lawsuits and might worsen privacy anxieties.

(www.quippd.com)

Tech terms of service

Quantum Entanglement Experiment: Ghosts of Time Travel?

2025-02-27

This article delves into the delayed-choice quantum eraser experiment conducted by Kim et al. in 1999. The experiment seemingly demonstrates that photons can influence their past behavior through quantum entanglement, sparking debate about time travel. The author provides a detailed analysis, arguing that the results don't support backward time travel but stem from a misunderstanding of the probabilistic nature of light waves. The article emphasizes that photons always travel as waves, and the apparent particle behavior is a result of localized energy manifestations on the wavefront. The seemingly paradoxical results are explained as stemming from a lack of understanding of probability and wave interference. The author ultimately refutes the concept of wave-particle duality, arguing it's an illusion created by differences in observation methods.

(drgblackwell.substack.com)

Tech delayed choice experiment

UK to Ban Tech Used in Car Thefts: Signal Jammers Criminalized

2025-02-27

New laws in England and Wales will ban sophisticated electronic devices used by criminals to steal cars. Over 700,000 vehicles were broken into last year, often using high-tech gadgets like signal jammers, implicated in about 40% of vehicle thefts nationwide. Previously, police needed to prove a device's use in a specific crime for prosecution; the new Crime and Policing Bill shifts the burden to the possessor to prove legitimate use. Making or selling jammers could result in five years in prison or an unlimited fine. This addresses the rise in car thefts, especially those exploiting keyless entry systems.

(bbc.com)

Tech car theft signal jammers UK law

Trump Admin Layoffs Devastate US Forest Service

2025-02-27

The US Forest Service suffered massive layoffs under the Trump administration, with approximately 3,400 employees let go, including many professionals crucial to climate change and disaster response. This has sparked concerns about public lands management and environmental protection, highlighting the agency's long-standing funding shortages and understaffing. The loss of experienced personnel severely impacts forest maintenance, wildfire prevention, and community recovery efforts. Unions have filed lawsuits challenging the legality of the layoffs.

(grist.org)

Tech US Forest Service

Quantum Error Correction: Fewer Resources, More Powerful Quantum Computers

2025-02-27

Think of quantum error correction like quality control in manufacturing: achieving the same defect detection with fewer checkpoints (e.g., using methods like Ocelot). This allows for smaller, more reliable, and cheaper quantum computers. This accelerates the application of quantum computing to real-world problems, such as faster drug discovery, new materials production, and more accurate financial risk prediction.

(www.aboutamazon.com)

Tech quantum error correction

Turning Quantum Noise into a Strength: Diamond Sensors Revolutionize Industries

2025-02-27

Quantum Catalyzer (Q-Cat) is leveraging quantum defects in diamonds to create sensors that turn the biggest hurdle for quantum computers—noise—into an advantage. These sensors utilize environmental disturbances to detect minute changes in magnetic and electric fields, finding applications in diverse sectors. Their first spin-off, EuQlid, developed a quantum diamond microscope imaging magnetic fields with micron-scale resolution, offering non-invasive high-precision analysis for semiconductor current detection, artwork preservation, and even biomedical applications like tumor detection. This technology promises to revolutionize various industries.

(spectrum.ieee.org)

Tech Quantum Sensors Diamond Defects

German Startup Unveils Continuously Operating Fusion Power Plant Design

2025-02-27

Two-year-old German nuclear fusion startup Proxima Fusion published its "Stellaris" fusion power plant design in a peer-reviewed journal. This stellarator-based design aims for continuous, reliable operation, addressing instability issues plaguing tokamak approaches. Proxima Fusion, backed by €65 million in funding, plans to build a fully operational reactor by 2031. This breakthrough marks a significant step forward in the race for clean energy.

(techcrunch.com)

Tech nuclear fusion stellarator

Army Soldier Who Leaked Officials' Phone Records Sought Asylum, Faced Treason Question

2025-02-27

Cameron Wagenius, a 20-year-old U.S. Army soldier operating under the alias "Kiberphant0m," pleaded guilty to leaking phone records of high-ranking U.S. government officials. He was part of a hacking group that exploited a vulnerability in Snowflake's cloud storage to steal data from AT&T and other major corporations. Prosecutors revealed Wagenius searched online for non-extradition countries and inquired about whether hacking constitutes treason. He also attempted to sell stolen information to a foreign military intelligence service. Wagenius faces up to ten years in prison and a $250,000 fine, while his accomplices, one of whom is in Turkish custody, face similar charges.

(krebsonsecurity.com)

Tech

Tokyo's Four-Day Workweek: A Novel Approach to a Population Crisis

2025-02-27

Facing a severe population crisis, Tokyo's metropolitan government will implement a four-day workweek starting April 2025, alongside a new 'childcare partial leave' policy. This initiative aims to improve work-life balance for parents, thereby potentially boosting birth rates. While hailed as innovative, the effectiveness of this approach in tackling Japan's demographic challenges remains uncertain, highlighting the complexity of addressing declining fertility rates.

(www.yahoo.com)

Tech four-day workweek population crisis

Category: Tech