Instructure, the company behind the widely used Canvas learning platform, says it reached an agreement with the hackers who stole 3.5 terabytes of student and university data. The company says it received "digital confirmation" that the information was destroyed and that affected schools and students would not be extorted. The BBC reports: Paying cyber criminals goes against the advice of law enforcement agencies around the world, as it can fuel further attacks and offers no guarantee the data has been deleted. In previous cases, criminals have accepted ransom payments but lied about destroying stolen data, instead keeping it for resale. For example, when the notorious LockBit ransomware group was hacked by the National Crime Agency, police found stolen data had not been deleted even after payments had been made.

Instructure said in a statement on its website that protecting students' and education staff data was its primary motivation. "While there is never complete certainty when dealing with cyber criminals, we believe it was important to take every step within our control to give customers additional peace of mind, to the extent possible," the company said. Instructure did not set out the terms of the agreement but said that it meant that:
- the data was returned to the company
- it received "digital confirmation of data destruction"
- it had been informed that no Instructure customers would be extorted as a result of the incident
- the agreement covers all affected customers, with no need for individuals to engage with the hackers

Read more of this story at Slashdot.

An anonymous reader quotes a report from the Financial Times (via Ars Technica): Amazon employees are using an internal AI tool to automate non-essential tasks in a bid to show managers they are using the technology more frequently. The Seattle-based group has started to widely deploy its in-house "MeshClaw" product in recent weeks, allowing employees to create AI agents that can connect to workplace software and carry out tasks on a user's behalf, according to three people familiar with the matter. Some employees said colleagues were using the software to automate additional, unnecessary AI activity to increase their consumption of tokens -- units of data processed by models. They said the move reflected pressure to adopt the technology after Amazon introduced targets for more than 80 percent of developers to use AI each week, and earlier this year began tracking AI token consumption on internal leader boards.

"There is just so much pressure to use these tools," one Amazon employee told the FT. "Some people are just using MeshClaw to maximize their token usage." Amazon has told employees that the AI token statistics would not be used in performance evaluations. But several staff members said they believed managers were monitoring the data. "Managers are looking at it," said another current employee. "When they track usage it creates perverse incentives and some people are very competitive about it."

Read more of this story at Slashdot.

Google is teasing a new line of "Googlebook" laptops for this fall, powered by a new Android-and-ChromeOS-derived operating system that will run Chrome, Android apps, phone-connected apps and files, and deeply integrated Gemini features. The company says Chromebooks will continue "after the launch of Googlebook" and "...all Chromebooks will continue to receive support through their device's existing date commitment." The Verge reports: "We'll have more to share on the exact OS branding later this year," Peter Du of Google's global communications team tells The Verge. [...] Googlebooks will have a Magic Pointer feature that offers contextual suggestions whenever you shake your cursor and point it at something on the screen. Google's examples include setting up a meeting by pointing at a date in an email or selecting images of furniture and a living space to visualize them together. Beyond your mouse pointer, Googlebooks will also feature the custom AI-created widgets that Google is also debuting today for Android phones and Wear OS smartwatches. I don't know what kind of horrors people will be able to make into widgets, but Google gives the example of making one to organize your flights, hotel information, restaurant reservations, and another for creating a countdown timer for an upcoming family reunion. (It's always flights, hotels, and restaurants, isn't it?)

While there are many outstanding questions to be answered about Googlebooks, the biggest and most obvious ones are what will these laptops look like, what chips will be in them, and what will they cost? We've got none of that so far. Google only has some initial renders of a mysterious Googlebook and the promise that it's working with Acer, Asus, Dell, HP, and Lenovo to make the first models. There are no model names. No specs. Nada. Google isn't even saying if the laptop in its renders is made by a partner or a tease of some first-party Pixel-like Googlebook to come or is just a cool mockup. The one distinct hardware feature shown, the bar of glowing Google-colored light, will be a signature of all Googlebooks. (Sure, bring on the RGB. Why not?)

Read more of this story at Slashdot.

Microsoft and G42's planned $1 billion AI data center in Kenya has stalled amid disagreements over power commitments, with President William Ruto saying the country would need to "switch off half the country" to support the project at full scale. Tom's Hardware reports: The project, announced in May 2024 during Ruto's visit to Washington, was supposed to bring a geothermal-powered data center to the Olkaria region in Kenya's Rift Valley. G42 was to lead construction, with the facility running Microsoft Azure in a new East Africa cloud region. The first phase targeted 100 megawatts of capacity and was expected to be operational by this year, with a long-term goal of scaling to 1 gigawatt.

President Ruto isn't exaggerating about shutting off half the country's power. Kenya's total installed electricity capacity sits between 3,000 and 3,200 megawatts, and peak demand reached a record 2,444 megawatts in January, according to data from KenGen, the country's government-owned electricity producer. The full 1 gigawatt build would therefore have consumed roughly a third of the country's total capacity, and even the first 100 megawatts would have required a significant share of the Olkaria geothermal complex's output, which currently generates around 950MW across all its plants.

John Tanui, principal secretary at Kenya's Ministry of Information, told Bloomberg that the project hasn't been withdrawn and that talks are continuing, adding that the "scale of the data center they [Microsoft] wanted to do still requires some structuring." A separate 60-megawatt project with local developer EcoCloud is also still under discussion. [...] Microsoft is spending $190 billion on capex in 2026, and the company adds approximately 1 gigawatt of data center capacity every three months globally. But power constraints are proving to be a universal bottleneck: nearly half of planned U.S. data center builds this year have been delayed or canceled due to shortages of electrical infrastructure.

Read more of this story at Slashdot.

Thomas Hawk posted a photo:

Thomas Hawk posted a photo:

WENEN (ANP) - Vier mensen die het optreden van Israël in de eerste halve finale van het Eurovisie Songfestival verstoorden zijn daarna uit de zaal verwijderd. Dat bevestigen de Oostenrijkse omroep ORF en songfestivalorganisator European Broadcasting Union desgevraagd aan het ANP.

"Een toeschouwer uitte luidkeels zijn mening toen de Israëlische artiest zijn optreden begon en tijdens het lied, wat te horen was in de live-uitzending", verklaart de organisatie. "Deze persoon werd later weggestuurd omdat hij het publiek bleef verstoren. Drie andere personen werden ook uit de arena verwijderd wegens storend gedrag."

De leuzen waren duidelijk te horen in de tv-uitzending. Vlak voordat de Israëlische zanger Noam Bettan zijn eerste noten zong, werd onder meer herhaaldelijk "Nee, nee tegen genocide" geroepen. ORF had vooraf aangekondigd het geluid niet weg te draaien bij eventuele wanklanken.

DEN HAAG (ANP) - De grote pensioenfondsen die al zijn overgestapt naar het nieuwe pensioenstelsel ondervonden in het eerste kwartaal hinder van de oorlog in het Midden-Oosten en een gedaalde rente. De pensioenopbouw van bij elkaar miljoenen deelnemers liep hierdoor schade op. Het is nog te vroeg voor een inschatting van wat dit precies betekent voor de pensioenen van gepensioneerden in 2027. De fondsen menen genoeg reserves te hebben om kortingen op uitkeringen te vermijden.

Zorgfonds PFZW, metaalfonds PMT en bpfBOUW gingen per 1 januari over naar het nieuwe stelsel. Dat ging gepaard met flinke pensioenverhogingen. In het nieuwe stelsel bewegen de pensioenen echter meer mee met ontwikkelingen op de financiële markten. Door de uitbraak van de Iranoorlog ging het daar in maart niet zo goed mee.

Bezien over het hele eerste kwartaal lukte het de fondsen volgens woensdag verschenen cijfers wel bescheiden rendementen te behalen. Door de lagere rente ging de kostprijs van pensioen, het bedrag dat nu nodig is om later een bepaald pensioen uit te keren, echter sterker omhoog.

Solidariteitsreserve

Op basis van de voorlopige cijfers zouden de ingegane pensioenen op 1 januari volgend jaar met 0,4 procent moeten worden verlaagd, becijfert PMT voor de eigen achterban. Volgens het fonds kan die min worden opgevangen met een kleine inzet van de solidariteitsreserve, waardoor de uitkering gelijk blijft. Een woordvoerster benadrukt dat het gaat om een "momentopname". De daadwerkelijke gevolgen voor pensioenuitkeringen in 2027 worden pas bepaald op basis van de cijfers per eind september dit jaar.

Het beeld voor deelnemers die nog geen pensioen ontvangen, verschilt sterk per leeftijd. Jongere deelnemers hebben nog tientallen jaren tot hun pensioen en de cijfers kunnen voor deze groep sterker schommelen. Voor oudere deelnemers investeren de fondsen minder in risicovolle beleggingen om het pensioen stabieler te houden.

16 procent omlaag

In het eerste kwartaal was het verschil goed zichtbaar, want het opgebouwde pensioen voor een 35-jarige bij PMT ging volgens de cijfers meer dan 16 procent omlaag. Bij mensen van 65 jaar bedroeg de afname minder dan 2 procent.

BpfBOUW en PFZW delen minder cijfers. Het fonds voor de bouw zegt wel dat er voor deelnemers vlak voor pensionering sprake is van een daling van hun verwachte pensioen met zo'n 2 procent. Een woordvoerster van PFZW voegt toe dat forse verhogingen er komende jaren sowieso niet meer inzitten, omdat beleggingsresultaten voortaan over meerdere jaren worden uitgesmeerd.

DEN HAAG (ANP) - Nederlandse bedrijven hebben vorig jaar meer gebruik gemaakt van een fiscale aftrekregeling voor de aanschaf van energiebesparende middelen. Dat meldt de Rijksdienst voor Ondernemend Nederland (RVO). Met belastingvoordeel via de Energie-investeringsaftrek (EIA) werd vooral meer geïnvesteerd in batterijen voor de opslag van energie.

In totaal werd er vorig jaar voor bijna 4 miljard euro aan energiezuinige investeringen gedaan, 23 procent meer dan een jaar eerder. In batterijopslag werd 70 procent meer geïnvesteerd ten opzichte van een jaar eerder. Ondernemers investeerden voor 1,1 miljard euro in batterijen met de fiscale aftrekregeling. Met de EIA-regeling kunnen ondernemers 40 procent van de investeringskosten aftrekken van de fiscale winst.

Batterijopslag is populair omdat bedrijven energie zelf willen opslaan, stelt de RVO. De meeste aanvragen werden gedaan voor batterijen die duurzaam opgewekte energie opslaan, bijvoorbeeld opgewekt via zonnepanelen op het dak van een bedrijf. Het meeste geld werd geïnvesteerd in batterijen die door bedrijven worden gebruikt om het net te balanceren. Deze batterijen slaan energie op wanneer het overtollig en goedkoop is en kunnen dit later weer terugleveren. De bedrijven leveren daarmee een bijdrage aan het verminderen van netcongestie.

DEN HAAG (ANP) - Ministers Bart van den Brink (Asiel) en David van Weel (Justitie) veroordelen de vernielingen en het geweld bij een opvanglocatie voor asielzoekers in Loosdrecht. Ze reageren boos en verbolgen op X.

Justitieminister Van Weel vindt "met zwaar vuurwerk en fakkels anderen in gevaar brengen onaanvaardbaar." Bij het pand is brand uitgebroken. De brandweer werd bij aankomst tegengehouden door de menigte. "Laat de politie en brandweer hun werk doen," schrijft de VVD'er daarover.

Asielminister Van den Brink (CDA) vindt dat "wat we vanavond hebben gezien, niks te maken heeft met demonstreren."

In Loosdrecht worden sinds deze week tientallen asielzoekers tijdelijk gehuisvest in het leegstaande gemeentehuis. Tegen de komst van deze opvangplek zijn meerdere demonstraties geweest, die ook al eerder uitliepen op rellen.

Teruhide Tomori has added a photo to the pool:

Location : Amaharashi, Takaoka, Toyama prefecture.

富山県 雨晴海岸 / 女岩と北アルプス
富山県高岡市太田

Teruhide Tomori has added a photo to the pool:

The Tateyama mountain range over Toyama Bay
Location : Nakata, Himi, Toyama prefecture.

富山県 浦灘海岸
富山県氷見市中田

I for one am glad I did not move all my github repositories to gitlab in a rush. Seems I have to move both github and gitlab to a safe haven.
https://about.gitlab.com/blog/gitlab-act-2/

Southampton advanced to the playoff final against Hull City, though it seems unlikely it will be quite that straightforward from here owing to the alleged foul play that dominated the buildup to a fraught second leg that went the distance, more than 130 minutes in total. If found guilty of cheating, Middlesbrough will demand Southampton are adequately punished. Is there even a world where Kim Hellberg’s train for the next couple of weeks in the event of the unprecedented?

Just what is it about Shea Charles and big moments, his latest coming in the 116th minute to send Tonda Eckert’s side to Wembley? It was the midfielder who scored the winning goal to send Arsenal packing in the FA Cup quarter-finals, his 96th-minute winner that clinched the 4-3 comeback victory against Leicester in February and now this. Charles was out on the right flank, the game edging towards a penalty shootout, when he sent the ball in with his left foot – it was surely a cross – and the ball sailed past the Boro defender Dael Fry and in at the back post.

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Data shows orforglipron could in future avoid need to take other long-term medications for diseases associated with obesity

A daily pill could help people keep weight off and stop them needing other long-term medications, scientists behind landmark new trial data have suggested.

The researchers said orforglipron could help prevent more than 200 diseases associated with obesity and could be prescribed to prevent lower levels of overweight tipping into obesity.

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Request is one of the justice department’s latest attempts to track and regulate gender-affirming care for minors

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A Texas federal prosecutor has subpoenaed NYU Langone Health (NYULH), a major hospital network in New York City, for information about minor patients who received gender-affirming care between 2020 to 2026.

The US attorney’s office in the northern district of Texas’s subpoena, which was sent on 7 May, also requested the names of medical providers and others who provided such medical treatment during that period. NYULH was one of several institutions that were issued a subpoena, according to a statement on its website.

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Comedian will host the 99th Oscars in 2027 after viewership dipped this year despite rise in social media engagement

Conan O’Brien’s era as Oscars host is becoming a trilogy. The Emmy-winning comedian will be back to host the 99th Academy awards in 2027, leaders of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Science said on Tuesday.

O’Brien hosted the last two Oscar ceremonies to positive reviews. Earlier this year, in his opening monologue, he said he was “honored to be the last human host of the Academy Awards … Next year it’s going to be a Waymo in a tux.”

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• Club president launches scathing attack on media

• No mention of turmoil, fights or José Mourinho

“Good afternoon, I regret to inform you that I’m not going to resign.” In a hot, packed press room at Valdebebas before an audience hurriedly summoned to witness a news conference so bizarre that they could barely believe what they were seeing, Florentino Pérez sat at a desk with a phone that he kept looking at and some papers that he didn’t, and announced that he was calling presidential elections at Real Madrid. What he didn’t announce was a date, an electoral commission, the resignation that is required for polling to actually happen, or indeed any details at all.

There was nothing about Madrid’s on-field issues either, nothing about the coach, no mention of José Mourinho, no explanation for the season they have just suffered. “I’m not here to talk about sporting issues,” Pérez said. Instead, he was there to deliver a surreal, repetitive rant that lasted over an hour, way after his own staff had tried to bring it to a close. A room of people, including the directors in the front row and lined up against one wall, looked at each other: yes, this was actually happening. Pérez went on and on, and on, the incoherent ramblings of a 79-year-old man who insisted “my health is perfect”.

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Since robot bartenders came up in that slopfondler post... From a recent email exchange:

They:	I just re-read your 2021 Cocktail Robotics cancellation post: "Weren't able to round up enough robots... maybe Plague World just isn't ready for barbots yet." Curious what your read is. On one hand, TechShop closed, hackerspaces shrinking, weekend builders aging into other responsibilities. On the other, robotics as a professional field is bigger than it's ever been, so it's not that the people are gone, it's that the unpaid-saturday-night version of them is. Covid artifact or structural?
jwz:	Yeah, I dunno. Maybe the spirit of whimsy has left the land. Or at least been evicted from San Francisco. You're the first person to even mention Cocktail Robotics to me in I-can't-remember-how-long. So it's not as if people are banging on the door asking me "Hey, when's that coming back, I've got a cool idea..." And, oh wow, can you imagine what an AI-slop shitshow it would be now? Half the entries would be "I made a vending machine that can talk like a sexy secretary, I think we might try to get VC funding for this".
They:	Yeah, the sexy secretary vending machine fear is real. Half the discord servers full of robotics hobbyists in 2026 are also half-full of people workshopping their seed pitch.
jwz:	That is horrifying and unsurprising. Also that this is all happening on Discord instead of out in the open on the fediverse means that I'd never even see it...
They:	Yup - I'm in a handful of robotics and adjacent slack/discord communities and that's the shape of it. Maybe I'm in the wrong ones. Would you say the fediverse has any meaningful SF robotics/maker presence these days?
jwz:	None that I've seen!

Previously, previously.