Oracle has signed a landmark $30 billion annual cloud deal -- nearly triple the size of its current cloud infrastructure business -- with revenue expected to begin in fiscal year 2028. The deal was disclosed in a regulatory filing Monday without the customer being named. Bloomberg reports: "Oracle is off to a strong start" in its fiscal year 2026, Chief Executive Officer Safra Catz said in the filing. The company has signed "multiple large cloud services agreements," she said, adding that revenue from Oracle's namesake database that runs on other clouds continues to grow more than 100%.

The $30-billion deal ranks among the largest cloud contracts on record. That revenue alone would represent nearly three times the size of Oracle's current infrastructure business, which totaled $10.3 billion over the past four quarters. A major cloud contract awarded in 2022 from the US Defense Department, that runs through 2028 and could be worth as much as $9 billion, is split among four companies, including Oracle. That award was a shift after an earlier contract worth $10 billion was awarded to Microsoft and was contested in court.

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An anonymous reader quotes a report from Tom's Hardware: Microsoft EVP Yusuf Mehdi said in a blog post last week that Windows powers over a billion active devices globally. This might sound like a healthy number, but according to ZDNET, the Microsoft annual report for 2022 said that more than 1.4 billion devices were running Windows 10 or 11. Given that these documents contain material information and have allegedly been pored over by the tech giant's lawyers, we can safely assume that Windows' user base has been quietly shrinking in the past three years, shedding around 400 million users.

This is probably why Microsoft has been aggressively pushing users to upgrade to Windows 11 after the previous version of the OS loses support -- so that its users would install the latest version of Windows on their current system (or get a new PC if their system is incapable of running the latest version). Although macOS is a threat to Windows, especially with the launch of Apple Silicon, we cannot say that those 400 million users all went and bought a MacBook. That's because, as far back as 2023, Mac sales have also been dropping, with Statista reporting the computer line, once holding more than 85% of the company revenue, now making up just 7.7%. The shrinking Windows user base can be attributed to a combination of factors -- a major one being the global move toward a mobile-first world, where smartphones and tablets are increasingly replacing traditional PCs for everyday computing needs.

At the same time, Microsoft's strict hardware requirements for Windows 11 have alienated users with perfectly functional older machines, prompting some to stick with unsupported versions or abandon Windows entirely. Additionally, many users find Windows 11 less intuitive than its predecessor and are frustrated by Microsoft's push toward data collection and Apple-style design changes.

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HP is developing a "PCFax" system similar to CarFax for used cars that securely collects and stores detailed device usage and health data at the firmware level to extend the life of PCs and reduce e-waste. A team of HP experts outlines the system in a recent IEEE Spectrum report: The secure telemetry protocol we've developed at HP works as follows. We gather the critical hardware and sensor data and store it in a designated area of the SSD. This area is write-locked, meaning only authorized firmware components can write to it, preventing accidental modification or tampering. That authorized firmware component we us is the Endpoint Security Controller, a dedicated piece of hardware embedded in business class HP PCs. It plays a critical role in strengthening platform-level security and works independently from the main CPU to provide foundational protection.

The endpoint security controller establishes a secure session by retaining the secret key within the controller itself. This mechanism enables read data protection on the SSD -- where telemetry and sensitive data are stored -- by preventing unauthorized access, even if the operating system is reinstalled or the system environment is otherwise altered. Then, the collected data is recorded in a timestamped file, stored within a dedicated telemetry log on the SSD. Storing these records on the SSD has the benefit of ensuring the data is persistent even if the operating system is reinstalled or some other drastic change in software environment occurs. The telemetry log employs a cyclic buffer design, automatically overwriting older entries when the log reaches full capacity. Then, the telemetry log can be accessed by authorized applications at the operating system level.

The telemetry log serves as the foundation for a comprehensive device history report. Much like a CarFax report for used cars, this report, which we call PCFax, will provide both current users and potential buyers with crucial information. The PCFax report aggregates data from multiple sources beyond just the on-device telemetry logs. It combines the secure firmware-level usage data with information from HP's factory and supply chain records, digital services platforms, customer support service records, diagnostic logs, and more. Additionally, the system can integrate data from external sources including partner sales and service records, refurbishment partner databases, third-party component manufacturers like Intel, and other original equipment manufacturers. This multi-source approach creates a complete picture of the device's entire lifecycle, from manufacturing through all subsequent ownership and service events.

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Automattic has put its plan to migrate Tumblr's backend to WordPress on hold, with CEO Matt Mullenweg citing a shift in focus toward features users are actively requesting. "I still want to do it," Mullenweg says. "It's just cleaner. But right now, we're not working on it." The Verge reports: The decision to halt the change also appears to mean that Tumblr posts won't be available in the fediverse in the near future. WordPress.com currently offers an ActivityPub plug-in, so Tumblr moving onto WordPress would theoretically let people bring Tumblr posts to the fediverse. "That would've been a free way to get it," Mullenweg says. "And so that was one of the arguments for migrating everything to WordPress."

In the meantime, however, "I think if there was a big push to implement fediverse, we would just do it on the Tumblr code base," according to Mullenweg.

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Apple must face the U.S. Department of Justice's lawsuit accusing the iPhone maker of unlawfully dominating the U.S. smartphone market, a judge ruled on Monday. From a report: U.S. District Judge Julien Neals in Newark, New Jersey, denied Apple's motion to dismiss the lawsuit accusing the company of using restrictions on third-party app and device developers to keep users from switching to competitors and unlawfully dominate the market.

The decision would allow the case to go forward in what could be a years-long fight for Apple against enforcers' attempt to lower what they say are barriers to competition with Apple's iPhone.

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Freelance workers using AI tools are earning significantly more than their counterparts, with AI-related freelance earnings climbing 25% year over year and AI freelancers commanding over 40% higher hourly rates than non-AI workers, according to new data from Upwork.

The freelance marketplace analyzed over 130 work categories and tracked millions of job posts over six months, finding that generative AI is simultaneously replacing low-complexity, repetitive tasks while creating demand for AI-augmented work. Workers using AI for augmentation outnumber those using it for automation by more than 2 to 1. Freelancers with coding skills comprising at least 25% of their work now earn 11% more for identical jobs compared to November 2022 when ChatGPT launched.

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Twee leuke jochies van een jaar of tien die wat willen bijverdienen vragen of ik nog een karweitje voor ze heb.

Marjoleine Vos

De opvangcrisis is geen natuurverschijnsel, maar een bestuurlijk probleem – en dus bestuurlijk oplosbaar. De wet ligt er. Gemeenten tonen inzet. Het COA is actief. Wat rest, is politieke wil.

Thomas Hawk posted a photo: