Apple is adding a new App Store subscription option that lets developers offer lower monthly prices in exchange for a 12-month commitment. "This model will allow developers to offer discounted rates to customers in exchange for more predictable long-term revenue," reports TechCrunch. "This also caters to how many developers have already been marketing their annual subscriptions in their apps." From the report: Often, app developers will display the lower monthly price to highlight the discount the customer would receive if they purchase the annual subscription instead of the monthly option. If the user is on the fence about a longer-term commitment, the notion that they're getting a better deal can help to push them toward the annual option.

Now, Apple is essentially formalizing what these developers were already doing, which allows it to also craft a set of policies around how these subscription offers are to be displayed so as not to mislead customers about the true cost of the deals.

However, the option will not be available to developers in the United States or Singapore at launch. While Apple didn't offer an explanation for this, it's still in App Store litigation in the U.S. around the specifics of the court's ruling in its case with Epic Games around how Apple can charge for subscriptions. Apple likely doesn't want to complicate the matter further until that matter is finalized. Singapore, meanwhile, also has a sophisticated payments market with strong consumer rules, which is why it may have been left out of the initial release.

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An anonymous reader quotes a report from Wired: For its famous intractability, the Bloomberg Terminal has long inspired devotion, bordering on obsession. Among traders, the ability to chart a path through the software's dizzying scrolls of numbers and text to isolate far-flung information is the mark of a seasoned professional. But as a greater mass of data is fed into the Terminal -- not only earnings and asset prices, but weather forecasts, shipping logs, factory locations, consumer spending patterns, private loans, and so on -- valuable information is being lost. "It has become more and more untenable," says Shawn Edwards, chief technology officer at Bloomberg. "You miss things, or it takes too long."

To try to remedy the problem, Bloomberg is testing a chatbot-style interface for the Terminal, ASKB (pronounced ask-bee), built atop a basket of different language models. The broad idea is to help finance professionals to condense labor-intensive tasks, and make it possible to test abstract investment theses against the data through natural language prompts. As of publication, the ASKB beta is open to roughly a third of the software's 375,000 users; Bloomberg has not specified a date for a full release. Wired spoke with Edwards at Bloomberg's palatial London headquarters in early April, where he shared several examples of what ASKB can do. "With ASKB, I can create workflow templates. I can write a long query, and say, 'Hey, here's all the data I'm going to need. Give me a synopsis of the bull and bear cases, what the Street is saying, what the guidance is.' Now, I want to schedule [the workflows] or trigger them when I see this or that condition in the world."

As for what separates mediocre traders from the best, assuming both have access to the same data, Edwards said: "These tools are not magical. They don't make an average [employee] all of a sudden great. The difference will be your ideas. In the hands of experts, it allows them to do better analysis, deeper research -- to sift through 10 great ideas when they might have only had time for one. If you're a mediocre analyst, they'll be 10 mediocre ideas."

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Google has reportedly signed a classified agreement allowing the Pentagon to use its AI models for "any lawful government purpose." While the deal is said to discourage domestic mass surveillance and autonomous weapons without human oversight, it apparently does not give Google the power to block how the government actually uses its models. The Verge reports: The agreement was reported less than a day after Google employees demanded CEO Sundar Pichai block the Pentagon from using its AI amid concerns that it would be used in "inhumane or extremely harmful ways." If the agreement is confirmed, it would place Google alongside OpenAI and xAI, which have also made classified AI deals with the US government. Anthropic was also among that list until it was blacklisted by the Pentagon for refusing the Department of Defense's demands to remove weapon and surveillance-related guardrails from its AI models.

Citing a single anonymous source "with knowledge of the situation," The Information reports that the deal states that both parties have agreed that the search giant's AI systems shouldn't be used for domestic mass surveillance or autonomous weapons "without appropriate human oversight and control." But the contract also says it doesn't give Google "any right to control or veto lawful government operational decision-making," which would suggest the agreed restrictions are more of a pinky promise than legally binding obligations.

Read more of this story at Slashdot.

fjo3 writes: The United Arab Emirates announced Tuesday that it would exit the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (source paywalled; alternative source), or OPEC, along with the wider group of partners known as OPEC+, effective May 1, in what could be a blow to control over prices by the group, long led in practice by Saudi Arabia. The move "reflects the UAE's long-term strategic and economic vision and evolving energy profile" read an official statement carried by a UAE state news agency, as disruptions "in the Strait of Hormuz continues to affect supply dynamics."

[...] The UAE is the second Persian Gulf country to leave the group after Qatar terminated its membership in 2019. The UAE has been a member of OPEC since 1971. The latest departure leaves in place 11 core members: Algeria, Congo, Equatorial Guinea, Gabon, Iran, Iraq, Kuwait, Libya, Nigeria, Saudi Arabia and Venezuela.

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Bay Area homeowner and investment banker Storm Duncan is trying to swap a 13-acre Mill Valley property for Anthropic equity instead of cash. He created a LinkedIn page for the home, describing the move as a "diversification play" because he is "under-concentrated in AI investments relative to the importance of AI in the future, and over-concentrated in real estate." A young Anthropic employee, Duncan says, might be "in the exact opposite scenario." TechCrunch reports: Duncan is asking potential buyers to email him to discuss deal specifics, but he said it would be a private transaction that doesn't require the buyer to sell their stock outright. On LinkedIn, he also said the homebuyer would "continue to retain 20% of the upside value of the shares exchanged for the duration of the lockup period."

Duncan, who described himself as a longtime Bay Area resident who moved to Miami during the pandemic, bought the property in 2019 for $4.75 million. It's currently occupied by "a high-profile VC," he said, but he declined to identify the VC.

Read more of this story at Slashdot.

An anonymous reader quotes a report from NPR: A divided U.S. Supreme Court on Monday heard a dispute over labels on the popular Roundup weed killer, which thousands of people blame for their cancers. How the Supreme Court rules could have implications for tens of thousands of lawsuits against Roundup maker Monsanto, which is now owned by Bayer. The case centers on who decides about warning labels on chemicals: the federal government -- or states or juries. [...] The justices will not be evaluating whether glyphosate causes cancer. Rather, they'll consider who should decide what appears on warning labels and whether states have a role to play after the EPA weighs in.

The current U.S. solicitor general backed Monsanto. Sarah Harris, his principal deputy, said the Environmental Protection Agency is in the driver's seat, not anyone in Missouri. "Missouri thus requires adding cancer warnings but federal law requires EPA to approve new warnings and tasks EPA with deciding what label changes would mitigate any health risks," Harris argued. "State law must give way." Several justices, including Brett Kavanaugh, appeared to agree with Monsanto's argument about the need for a single, uniform standard across the country.

But others, like Chief Justice John Roberts, wondered what would happen if the federal government moved more slowly than states did, who wanted to act quickly on information about new dangers. "Well, it does undermine the uniformity," Roberts said. "On the other hand, if it turns out they were right, it might have been good if they had an opportunity to do something, to call this danger to the attention of people while the federal government was going through its process," he said about states.

Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson asked about the emergence of new science, and the EPA's reviews. "There's a 15-year window between when that product has to be re-registered again and lots of things can happen in science, in terms of development about the product," she said. Bayer, which now owns Monsanto, only sells Roundup that contains glyphosate to farmers and businesses these days. Bayer has been pushing to resolve scores of the residential cases through a sweeping settlement, trying to put the costly claims behind it.

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Thomas Hawk posted a photo:

Thomas Hawk posted a photo:

Thomas Hawk posted a photo:

Thomas Hawk posted a photo:

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Omdat het ook wel een keertje aardig is, bespreken we hedenavond enkel goed nieuws in ons StamCafé. Wat blijkt nou: na het beëindigen van om en nabij 47 oorlogen, het redden van de economie en het bevrijden van de Iraniërs werpt Trump zich nu op tot redder van de bijen. Dat maken wij althans op uit bovenstaande plaat, gemaakt tijdens het staatsbezoek van het Britse koningspaar aan de VS. Weer een banger van een foto van de vredespresident, een ongetwijfelde gamechanger voor de Midterms. Ander goed nieuws uit Amerika: ICE bewijst weer eens hartstikke NICE te zijn door een 19-jarige meid uit het Overijsselse De Krim (ja zo heet het daar. afblijven Poetin) vast te zetten. Hoe durven ze!! Zomaar Nederlandse tienermeisjes in de bak gooien! Die had zeker iets gemeens getweet over Trump!! Euh, nee. De meid in kwestie kwam aan op het vliegveld van Dallas met een koffer vol drugs, maar liefst 67 kilo. Ze zou eerst jarenlang de bak in moeten, maar sloot met justitie om daar slechts 4 maanden van te maken. Die 4 maanden zaten er er al op, maar nu zit ze dus vast in een detentiecentrum van ICE. Altijd weer die jongeren uit De Krim. Hoe dan ook lekker gewerkt ICE! Tenslotte drinken we een rondje extra voor alle patiënten bij zorginstellingen die gebruik maken van patiëntenportalen van ChipSoft. Nadat begin deze maand daar allemaal patiëntgegevens gehackt waren, meldt het bedrijf nu dat die gestolen gegevens allemaal vernietigd zijn. Of ChipSoft de cyberpikkeboeven daarvoor een geldbedrag heeft overgemaakt willen ze niet zeggen, maar we vermoeden: wel. Ja, jammer van je principes maar wel een nieuwe, zoveelste, dataramp afgewend. Kan ook gewoon, Odido. Enfin, tot zover het goede nieuws, na de breek wat miems en uiteraard goedenacht.

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6 mei, zegt die datum u iets? Nou, ons wel, want het is de dag dat de Nederlandse regering gaat tekenen bij het kruisje van het uit handen geven van onze digitale soevereiniteit inzake DigiD. Dan wordt namelijk het contract met de in de etalage staande beheerder van deze best wel cruciale dienst verlengd (ondanks het feit dat vrijwel de hele Kamer TEUGEN is), en de afgelopen dagen is de regering vooral druk geweest met het rechtzetten van deze weeffout in onze digitale rechtsorde verdachtmaken en op non-actief zetten van klokkenluider Pieter van Oordt, die overigens gewoon doorvecht en hierrr nog even wijst op een interessant haakje in het internationaal Europees recht wat betreft de overname. Maar er is hoop! Een coalitie onder leiding van Pieter Omtzigt, met in de gelederen onder meer Brenno (Brenno!) de Winter, Marleen Stikker en Ferd 'de G. blijft toch de G.' Grapperhaus waarschuwt de regering in de Volkskrant VOOR DE LAATSTE KEER. "Tot 6 mei kan Nederland nog zonder veel extra kosten een andere keuze maken en ervoor zorgen dat DigiD en de Berichtenbox niet onder Amerikaanse controle komen. We roepen de regering op dat te doen. De tijdlijn is kort, nu de beslissing om over te stappen consequent is uitgesteld, maar onder druk wordt alles vloeibaar." Zei er niet iemand ooit: het kan wél?

Totale horrorzaak in Groningen. Daar besloot een illegaal door Nederland zwervende Georgiër (31), die naar eigen zeggen hier is om te werken, op 29 mei vorig jaar om in een steeg in de binnenstad door een openstaand raam van een studio te klimmen. Daar trof hij de licht verstandelijk beperkte en invalide bewoonster, die hij vervolgens urenlang op verschillende plekken in de woning verkrachtte. Bij elke vorm van protest werd de vrouw geslagen. Als laatst mogelijke redmiddel is de vrouw dan maar gaan gillen en toen omstanders dat gegil vernamen werd direct de politie ingeschakeld. De politie arriveerde maar hoorde niks en besloot daarop WEER TE VERTREKKEN. "Met geweld verkracht hij haar meerdere keren.  Hij heeft haar aan haar hoofd en haren getrokken, tegen de muur geduwd, haar kleding gescheurd en houdt haar tegen als zij probeert via het raam te ontkomen." De brute verkrachting ging uiteindelijk door totdat de man in slaap viel en de vrouw wist te ontkomen. Het goede nieuws in dezen is dat het Georgische BEEST vandaag is veroordeeld, en wel tot, houd u vast, ZES JAAR cel. Een jaartje minder dan de eis. De verwachting is dat hij daarna wordt uitgezet naar Georgië. Exact, de verwachting.

A call for targeted microlooting. Nadja Spiegelman hosts the New Yorker writer Jia Tolentino and Twitch streamer/commentator Hasan Piker on a New York Times podcast to discuss the political possibilities of stealing from large corporations.

Nadja Spiegelman previously. Jia Tolentino previously.

Altman's gaggle of GPTs now available in limited preview in an AWS region near you

OpenAI's top models are officially available on Amazon Web Services' Bedrock managed inference and agent platform.…

'Full recovery is impossible for anyone, including the attacker'

Organizations hit by the wave of Trivy and LiteLLM supply-chain compromises that paid Vect in hopes of recovering their data likely did not get much back, according to Check Point Research. That's because the ransomware Vect uses isn't actually ransomware at all, but a wiper that destroys any file larger than 128KB.…

DoI offers up to $885M if they abandon offshore wind projects

As the Iran war pushes up energy prices, the Trump administration is paying offshore wind developers to walk away from projects and invest instead in fossil fuel infrastructure.…

Talkie's training data stops at the end of 1930, and its creators hope it'll help us better understand how AI thinks

If you're tired of interacting with a bot that spews Nazi propaganda or refers to itself as MechaHitler, you could sign off of Elon Musk's xAI. Or, just to be sure, use an LLM whose training data ends in 1930, three years before the Nazis took power in Germany and nine years before World War II started.…

Bij de cyberaanval stalen de hackers medische gegevens van zorginstellingen. Volgens de getroffen softwareontwikkelaar zijn de data niet gepubliceerd.

ILETT Digital ???? Bringing more sophisticated, editorial elements to the digital marketing space, elevating the overall aesthetic and communicating the real value that Ilett Digital brings to its clients. Scope: ? Brand Strategy ?? Visual Identity ?? Website Design ? Collateral Design Year: 2026