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After 16 Years and $8 Billion, the Military's New GPS Software Still Doesn't Work

An anonymous reader quotes a report from Ars Technica: Last year, just before the Fourth of July holiday, the US Space Force officially took ownership of a new operating system for the GPS navigation network, raising hopes that one of the military's most troubled space programs might finally bear fruit. The GPS Next-Generation Operational Control System, or OCX, is designed for command and control of the military's constellation of more than 30 GPS satellites. It consists of software to handle new signals and jam-resistant capabilities of the latest generation of GPS satellites, GPS III, which started launching in 2018. The ground segment also includes two master control stations and upgrades to ground monitoring stations around the world, among other hardware elements.

RTX Corporation, formerly known as Raytheon, won a Pentagon contract in 2010 to develop and deliver the control system. The program was supposed to be complete in 2016 at a cost of $3.7 billion. Today, the official cost for the ground system for the GPS III satellites stands at $7.6 billion. RTX is developing an OCX augmentation projected to cost more than $400 million to support a new series of GPS IIIF satellites set to begin launching next year, bringing the total effort to $8 billion.

Although RTX delivered OCX to the Space Force last July, the ground segment remains nonoperational. Nine months later, the Pentagon may soon call it quits on the program. Thomas Ainsworth, assistant secretary of the Air Force for space acquisition and integration, told Congress last week that OCX is still struggling. The GAO found the OCX program was undermined by "poor acquisition decisions and a slow recognition of development problems." By 2016, it had blown past cost and schedule targets badly enough to trigger a Pentagon review for possible cancellation.

Officials also pointed to cybersecurity software issues, a "persistently high software development defect rate," the government's lack of software expertise, and Raytheon's "poor systems engineering" practices. Even after the military restructured the program, it kept running into delays and overruns, with Ainsworth telling lawmakers, "It's a very stressing program" and adding, "We are still considering how to ensure we move forward."

Read more of this story at Slashdot.

Samsung Is Bringing AirDrop-Style Sharing to Older Galaxy Devices

Samsung is reportedly planning to roll out AirDrop-style file sharing for older Galaxy phones via a Quick Share update. Early reports suggest the feature is appearing on devices from the Galaxy S22 through the S25, though it is not actually working yet. Android Central reports: As spotted by Reddit users (via Tarun Vats on X), a Quick Share app update is rolling out via the Galaxy Store on older Samsung devices that appears to add support for AirDrop file sharing with Apple devices. Users report seeing the same new "Share with Apple devices" section we first saw on Galaxy S26 devices in the Settings app after updating Quick Share.

The update is reportedly showing up on Galaxy models ranging from the Galaxy S22 to last year's Galaxy S25 series. The catch, however, is that the feature doesn't seem to be working yet. It's appearing on devices running One UI 8 as well as the One UI 8.5 beta, but enabling the toggle doesn't activate the functionality for now.

Users say that turning on the feature doesn't make their device visible to Apple devices, and no Apple devices show up in Quick Share either. It's possible Samsung or Google still needs to enable it server-side, but it does confirm that broader rollout to older Galaxy devices is coming. The feature could arrive fully with the One UI 8.5 update.

Read more of this story at Slashdot.

OkCupid Settles FTC Case On Alleged Misuse of Its Users' Personal Data

OkCupid and parent company Match Group settled an FTC case dating back to 2014 over allegations that the dating app shared users' photos and other personal data with a third party without proper disclosure or opt-out rights. Engadget reports: According to the FTC, OkCupid's privacy policy at the time noted that the company wouldn't share a user's personal information with others, except for some cases including "service providers, business partners, other entities within its family of businesses." However, the lawsuit accused OkCupid of sharing three million photos of its users to Clarifai, which the FTC claims is a "unrelated third party" that didn't fall under the allowed entities. On top of that, the lawsuit alleged that OkCupid didn't inform its users of this data sharing, nor give them a chance to opt out.

Moving forward, the settlement would "permanently prohibit" Match Group, which owns OkCupid, and Humor Rainbow, which operates OkCupid, from misrepresenting what kind of personal information it collects, the purpose for collecting the data and any consumer choices to prevent data collection. Even after the 2014 incident, OkCupid was found with security flaws that could've exposed user account info but, which were quickly patched in 2020.

Read more of this story at Slashdot.

Life With AI Causing Human Brain 'Fry'

fjo3 shares a report from France 24: Too many lines of code to analyze, armies of AI assistants to wrangle, and lengthy prompts to draft are among the laments by hard-core AI adopters. Consultants at Boston Consulting Group (BCG) have dubbed the phenomenon "AI brain fry," a state of mental exhaustion stemming "from the excessive use or supervision of artificial intelligence tools, pushed beyond our cognitive limits."

The rise of AI agents that tend to computer tasks on demand has put users in the position of managing smart, fast digital workers rather than having to grind through jobs themselves. "It's a brand-new kind of cognitive load," said Ben Wigler, co-founder of the start-up LoveMind AI. "You have to really babysit these models." [...] "There is a unique kind of reward hacking that can go on when you have productivity at the scale that encourages even later hours," Wigler said.

[Adam Mackintosh, a programmer for a Canadian company] recalled spending 15 consecutive hours fine-tuning around 25,000 lines of code in an application. "At the end, I felt like I couldn't code anymore," he recalled. "I could tell my dopamine was shot because I was irritable and didn't want to answer basic questions about my day."

BCG recommends in a recently published study that company leaders establish clear limits regarding employee use and supervision of AI. However, "That self-care piece is not really an America workplace value," Wigler said. "So, I am very skeptical as to whether or not its going to be healthy or even high quality in the long term." Notably, the report says everyone interviewed for the article "expressed overall positive views of AI despite the downsides." In fact, a recent BCG study actually found a decline in burnout rates when AI took over repetitive work tasks.

Read more of this story at Slashdot.

Judge Allows BitTorrent Seeding Claims Against Meta, Despite Lawyers 'Lame Excuses'

An anonymous reader quotes a report from TorrentFreak: In an effort to gather material for its LLM training, Meta used BitTorrent to download pirated books from Anna's Archive and other shadow libraries. According to several authors, Meta facilitated the infringement of others by "seeding" these torrents. This week, the court granted the authors permission to add these claims to their complaint, despite openly scolding their counsel for "lame excuses" and "Meta bashing." [...] The judge acknowledged that the contributory infringement claim could and should have been added back in November 2024, when the authors amended their complaint to include the distribution claim. After all, both claims arise from the same factual allegations about Meta's torrenting activity.

"The lawyers for the named plaintiffs have no excuse for neglecting to add a contributory infringement claim based on these allegations back in November 2024," Judge Chhabria wrote. The lawyers of the book authors claimed that the delay was the result of newly produced evidence that had "crystallized" their understanding of Meta's uploading activity. However, that did not impress the judge. He called it a "lame excuse" and "a bunch of doubletalk," noting that if the missing discovery truly prevented the contributory claim from being added in November 2024, the same logic would have prevented the distribution claim from being added at that time as well. "Rather than blaming Meta for producing discovery late, the plaintiffs' lawyers should have been candid with the Court, explaining that they missed an issue in a case of first impression..," the order reads.

Judge Chhabria went further, noting that the authors' law firm, Boies Schiller, showed "an ongoing pattern" of distracting from its own mistakes by attacking Meta. He pointed specifically to the dispute over when Meta disclosed its fair use defense to the distribution claim, which we covered here recently, characterizing it as a false distraction. "The lawyers for the plaintiffs seem so intent on bashing Meta that they are unable to exercise proper judgment about how to represent the interests of their clients and the proposed class members," the order reads. Despite the criticism, Chhabria granted the motion. [...] For now, the case moves forward with a fourth amended complaint, three new loan-out companies added as named plaintiffs, and a growing list of BitTorrent-related claims for Judge Chhabria to resolve.

Read more of this story at Slashdot.

Home Solar

"While I try to do my part to destroy the environment, I try not to focus too much on individual responsibility. By pushing for broad policy changes, we can collectively do far more damage to the biosphere than any of us could on our own."

The Guardian

Latest news, sport, business, comment, analysis and reviews from the Guardian, the world's leading liberal voice

‘We didn’t want to be preachy’: David Attenborough’s unexpected new show – which might enrage cat lovers

The great naturalist, who is about to turn 100, is still surprised by wildlife in his new series about British gardens. But not every pet owner will be happy with his top tips

Whenever David Attenborough speaks, the world listens – so his latest BBC programme, which heralds the broadcaster’s 100th birthday, is bound to attract attention.

Secret Garden, which features five different UK gardens, might not be what people normally expect from Attenborough, says the show’s series producer, Bill Markham, as “there’s no lions and tigers”.

Continue reading...

15-year-old cricket prodigy Vaibhav Sooryavanshi smashes 15-ball IPL half century

  • Rajasthan Royals opener hits third 50-plus score of his IPL career

  • Coaches told youngster ‘to read the situation well and back my game’

Days after turning 15, Rajasthan Royals opener Vaibhav Sooryavanshi found a perfect way to celebrate, tearing to a 15-ball half-century in a commanding eight-wicket victory over Chennai Super Kings in the Indian Premier League.

Sooryavanshi, who lit up his debut season with a 35-ball hundred against Gujarat Titans last year, took only 15 balls to smash his first fifty of the season – the third fifty-plus score of his eight-match IPL career so far.

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Céline Dion to return to performing after lengthy hiatus due to illness

Titanic singer will perform 10 shows in Paris in September, after six-year break due to stiff-person syndrome

Céline Dion has announced her long-awaited return to performing live after a lengthy break caused by a rare health condition.

Addressing fans on social media in a video released on her birthday, the 58-year-old singer called the news of her comeback “the best gift”. She said her condition had improved and she would perform a series of shows in Paris, beginning in September.

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Wel.nl

Minder lezen, Meer weten.

Meerderheid raad Gorinchem wil herstemming na mogelijke fraude

GORINCHEM (ANP) - Een nipte meerderheid van de gemeenteraad van Gorinchem wil een gehele herstemming vanwege vermoedens van verkiezingsfraude. Dat betekent dat kiesgerechtigden opnieuw naar de stembus moeten, zo werd in de nacht van maandag op dinsdag besloten tijdens een gemeenteraadsvergadering. Een herstemming voor de gemeenteraadsverkiezingen is zeldzaam.

De Zuid-Hollandse gemeente maakte vorige week bekend dat er vermoedens zijn van stemfraude. Burgemeester Reinie Melissant zei dat ze meer dan tien signalen hiervan heeft ontvangen. De burgemeester deed daarop aangifte van meerdere vormen van verkiezingsfraude, zoals beïnvloeding en het ronselen van volmachten.

De raad was uiteindelijk verdeeld over een gedeeltelijke of gehele herstemming. Uiteindelijk gingen dertien raadsleden mee met een amendement over een herstemming voor alle kiesgerechtigden in Gorinchem, twaalf stemden tegen.

"Er wordt een nieuwe datum vastgesteld", zei de burgemeester. "Alle kiesgerechtigden mogen opnieuw naar de stembus." Ze noemde het van groot belang dat het vertrouwen "in de politiek en in elkaar" wordt hersteld. "Daar gaan we samen aan werken en dat begint nu."

Een herstemming moet binnen 30 dagen na het besluit worden gehouden. Daarvoor moeten weer afspraken worden gemaakt met de stemlocaties en vrijwilligers worden gevonden, liet de Kiesraad eerder weten. Ook moeten er nieuwe stempassen worden verstuurd.

De huidige raad blijft zitten tot de nieuwe raad is gekozen. Bij de herstemming zijn de kandidatenlijsten hetzelfde als op 18 maart. Toen brachten in Gorinchem 15.854 mensen hun stem uit, een opkomstpercentage van 51 procent.


Koningspaar geraakt door overlijden oud-president Santokhi

DEN HAAG (ANP) - Koning Willem-Alexander en koningin Máxima zeggen dat ze geraakt zijn door het overlijden van oud-president Chan Santokhi van Suriname. Het koningspaar denkt "met warme herinneringen" terug aan Santokhi, is te lezen in een verklaring op Instagram, Bluesky en X. Ook wensen zij de nabestaanden sterkte met "dit grote verlies".

"In zijn eigen land en daarbuiten werd hij gewaardeerd om zijn inzet voor de democratische rechtsorde en voor een veilige samenleving", staat verder in het statement. "Hij zette zich daarnaast met overtuiging in voor versterking van de band tussen Suriname en Nederland."

Santokhi was van 2020 tot 2025 president van Suriname. Hij overleed maandag op 67-jarige leeftijd.


Sakura Train

World Thru Lenz has added a photo to the pool:

Sakura Train

thexiffy

Last.fm last recent tracks from thexiffy.

Faith No More - Malpractice

Faith No More

DJ Krust - Bad Company - Oxygen

DJ Krust

Let's Get Coffee

Thomas Hawk posted a photo:

Let's Get Coffee

Found Photograph

Thomas Hawk posted a photo:

Found Photograph

Beautiful till the very end

BertvB posted a photo:

Beautiful till the very end

Vol idealen keerde Chan Santokhi terug naar Suriname, maar als president toonde hij eigenzinnige trekken

Met Desi Bouterse duelleerde Chan Santokhi om de macht in Suriname. Hij werd populair als crimefighter, maar als president kon Santokhi nooit zijn beloften waarmaken.

PBL maakt risico’s klimaatverandering concreet: misoogsten, verzakkende huizen, en ‘een einde aan de Vierdaagse’

Nederland moet zich onvermijdelijk gaan aanpassen aan klimaatverandering. De vraag is hoe. Een mengeling van technische en natuurlijke oplossingen is het beste, zegt het Planbureau voor de Leefomgeving. De leidraad is: „Doe alles klimaatadaptief.”

The Register

Biting the hand that feeds IT — Enterprise Technology News and Analysis

GitHub backs down, kills Copilot pull-request ads after backlash

Letting Copilot alter others' PRs was the wrong judgment call, says product manager

Microsoft has done a 180. Following backlash from developers, GitHub has removed Copilot's ability to stick ads - what it calls "tips" - into any pull request that invokes its name. …