An anonymous reader quotes a report from TechCrunch: On Tuesday, India's Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade released a proposed framework that would give AI companies access to all copyrighted works for training in exchange for paying royalties to a new collecting body composed of rights-holding organizations, with payments then distributed to creators. The proposal argues that this "mandatory blanket license" would lower compliance costs for AI firms while ensuring that writers, musicians, artists, and other rights holders are compensated when their work is scraped to train commercial models. [...]

The eight-member committee, formed by the Indian government in late April, argues the system would avoid years of legal uncertainty while ensuring creators are compensated from the outset. Defending the system, the committee says in a 125-page submission (PDF) that a blanket license "aims to provide an easy access to content for AI developers reduce transaction costs [and] ensure fair compensation for rightsholders," calling it the least burdensome way to manage large-scale AI training. The submission adds that the single collecting body would function as a "single window," eliminating the need for individual negotiations and enabling royalties to flow to both registered and unregistered creators.

Read more of this story at Slashdot.

Longtime Slashdot reader MadCow42 writes: Canonical just announced that they're packaging AMD's ROCm libraries (for AIML and HPC with both data-center GPUs as well as desktop/laptop GPUs), directly into the Ubuntu Universe archive. You can run ROCm on Ubuntu today but you have to install it via a script from AMD and manually remove and reinstall for any upgrades or bug fixes. Having it in Ubuntu as a normal Debian package will make it much easier to install and also to maintain in the long run via normal apt tooling ('apt upgrade'). This also means that ROCm can be an automatically-installed dependency for other packages, which doesn't happen today.

And, interestingly, Canonical has committed to providing long-term-support for ROCm in Ubuntu -- which is particularly exciting for edge and IoT devices that may have a long life in the field and need regular security patches and updates.

Read more of this story at Slashdot.

Qualcomm has acquired RISC-V startup Ventana to strengthen its CPU ambitions beyond mobile, "reinforcing its commitment and leadership in the development of the RISC-V standard and ecosystem," the company said in a press release. CRN Magazine reports: The San Diego-based company said Ventana's expertise in RISC-V, a free and open alternative to the Arm and x86 instruction set architectures, will enhance its CPU engineering capabilities and complement "existing efforts to develop custom Oryon CPU technology." Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed.

Qualcomm, which has already been using RISC-V for some products outside the PC and server markets, said Ventana's contributions will boost its "technology leadership in the AI era across all businesses," indicating the broad impact expected by this acquisition. "We believe the RISC-V instruction set architecture has the potential to advance the frontier on CPU technology, enabling innovation across products," Durga Malladi, executive vice president and general manager of technology planning, edge solutions and data center for Qualcomm, said in a statement. "The acquisition of Ventana Micro Systems marks a pivotal step in our journey to deliver industry-leading RISC-V-based CPU technology across products."

Further reading: Qualcomm Is Buying Arduino, Releases New Raspberry Pi-Esque Arduino Board

Read more of this story at Slashdot.

An anonymous reader quotes a report from Ars Technica: On Monday, research analyst MoffettNathanson released its "Cord-Cutting Monitor Q3 2025: Signs of Life?" report. It found that the pay TV operators, including cable companies, satellite companies, and virtual multichannel video programming distributors (vMVPDs) like YouTube TV and Fubo, added 303,000 net subscribers in Q3 2025. According to the report, "There are more linear video subscribers now than there were three months ago. That's the first time we've been able to say that since 2017."

In Q3 2017, MoffettNathanson reported that pay TV gained 318,000 net new subscribers. But since then, the industry's subscriber count has been declining, with 1,045,000 customers in Q2 2025, as depicted in the graph [here]. The world's largest vMVPD by subscriber count, YouTube TV, claimed 8 million subscribers in February 2024; some analysts estimate that number is now at 9.4 million. In its report, MoffettNathanson estimated that YouTube TV added 750,000 subscribers in Q3 2025, compared to 1 million in Q3 2024.

Traditional pay TV companies also contributed to the industry's unexpected growth by bundling its services with streaming subscriptions. Charter Communications offers bundles with nine streaming services, including Disney+, Hulu, and HBO Max. In Q3 2024, it saw net attrition of 294,000 customers, compared to about 70,000 in Q3 2025. Other cable companies have made similar moves. Comcast, for example, launched a streaming bundle with Netflix, Peacock, and Apple TV in May 2024. For Q3 2025, Comcast reported its best pay TV subscriber count in almost five years, which was a net loss of 257,000 customers. "Traditional pay TV -- i.e. cable and satellite -- still declined quarter over quarter in Q3, but again, by less," noted SteamTV Insider. "The [year-over-year] rate of attrition dropped from -12.4 percent to -10.2 percent over 12 months."

MoffettNathanson added: "Yes, Q3 saw a positive net add number for [pay TV for] the first time in eight years, but that positive result came in the year's seasonally strongest quarter. We're not yet close to seeing the category actually grow again..."

Read more of this story at Slashdot.

Adobe is integrating Photoshop, Express, and Acrobat directly into ChatGPT so users can edit photos, design graphics, and tweak PDFs through the chatbot. The Verge reports: The Adobe apps are free to use, and can be activated by typing the name of the app alongside an uploaded file and conversational instruction, such as "Adobe Photoshop, help me blur the background of this image." ChatGPT users won't have to specify the name of the app again during the same conversation to make additional changes. Depending on the instructions, Adobe's apps may offer a selection of results to choose from, or provide a UI element that the user can manually control -- such as Photoshop sliders for adjusting contrast and brightness.

The ChatGPT apps don't provide the full functionality of Adobe's desktop software. Adobe says the Photoshop app can edit specific sections of images, apply creative effects, and adjust image settings like brightness, contrast and exposure. Acrobat in ChatGPT can edit existing PDFs, compress and convert other documents into a PDF format, extract text or tables, and merge multiple files together.

The Adobe Express app allows ChatGPT users to both generate and edit designs, such as posters, invitations, and social media graphics. Everything in the design can be edited without leaving ChatGPT, from replacing text or images, to altering colors and animating specific sections. If ChatGPT users do want more granular control over a project they started in the chatbot, those photos, PDFs, and designs can be opened directly in Adobe's native apps to pick up where they left off.

Read more of this story at Slashdot.

Mijn zoon (16) komt naar beneden, op zoek naar het net door ons uitgelezen exemplaar van In het kort van Paulien Cornelisse.

If you opt in to the paid service that is

Nvidia is developing a new inventory management service that could be used by customers to verify the location of their existing GPU stockpiles.…

New evidence suggests that Neanderthals were making fire in the UK 400,000 years ago. The previous earliest date of human fire-making was a mere 50,000 years ago.

💬 Join the discussion on kottke.org →

From the archives of London’s V&A Museum, a selection of items that were used by Victorian-era mourners to remember and pay tribute to loved ones who had died, including jewelry with human hair, black dresses, jet black jewelry, mourning cards, and postmortem photography. Victorian fashion was heavily influenced by Queen Victoria, who mourned the death of her husband for decades and set off a trend in Britain (more here):

Victoria’s grief wasn’t only personal but influenced the entire nation. Her strict adherence to mourning attire and jewelry set the tone for the era. Until around 1880, she mandated that only mourning jewelry could be worn in the court. The Queen’s dedication to mourning created what has been described as “the Cult of Mourning,” where societal conventions, fashion, and daily life were infused with the solemnity of loss.

During the Victorian era, mourning jewelry transformed into sentimental tokens for the departed, featuring symbols like willows, angels, clouds, and initials. Women adhered strictly to mourning dress codes, wearing black for the initial “deep mourning” phase lasting two to three years, later transitioning to darker colors. Incorporating the deceased’s hair was common, using materials like jet, vulcanite, and gutta percha. White enamel symbolized the death of an unmarried female or a child, while pearls represented children, signifying tears. Turquoise conveyed the sentiment of “thinking of you,” and affluent families adorned mourning jewelry with precious stones for their loved ones.

A+ to the curators in the video, who understood the fashion assignment in presenting these objects.

Also, I love every opportunity to share one of my favorite Victorian phrases: “got the morbs”, which is defined as being in a state of temporary melancholia. (via colossal)

Tags: death · fashion · museums · Queen Victoria · V&A Museum · video

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bakuretu has added a photo to the pool:

At daitoin of Japanease temple

bakuretu has added a photo to the pool:

At daitoin of Japanease temple

Coming and going, Brad Fisher

Ultraman, Steve Thomas

The universe is expanding, Shane Drinkwater

The Sleep of Truth, Marcel Dzama

Thomas Hawk posted a photo:

Thomas Hawk posted a photo:

For Shuo Hao, finding the proper place is at the heart of her practice. The Chinese artist, who is currently based in Paris, has long been interested in the ancient text Yijing and how it offers a system of understanding for a world perpetually in flux. The cosmological book provides structure through the five elements—earth, water, air, fire, and metal—and also considers the relationships between humans and nature and the order of things, more broadly.

Shuo Hao works with antique furniture, typically sourced from auctions and second-hand shops. Wood worn with age is her preferred material, and most objects she selects date between the 16th and 20th centuries. Like much of her practice, choosing these objects emerges more from intuition rather than a desire for particular physical qualities. Focusing on their surfaces, she paints a paints a panel or door, transforming both prized and forgotten pieces into surreal works.

“Sometimes it’s just a subconscious feeling that a certain arrangement works, and later, upon analyzing the structure of the materials, I find that it indeed does,” she tells Colossal. “So I trust intuition. Everything that comes directly from it feels natural and authentic.”

Describing her process as “a kind of self-repair,” Shuo Hao considers herself in the Jungian tradition—the Swiss psychologist also embraced the teachings of the Yijing—as she gathers and arranges pieces in a way that’s therapeutic. She adds:

I search for the right parts to assemble a work, and each part reflects aspects of my own personality and experiences. When a piece is complete, it feels like an independent and complete personality has emerged, giving a sense of wholeness. I feel my breath flows more freely.

Surreal in content and celestial in color, the paintings feature strange hybrid creatures and often nod to ancient mythmaking. There’s a three-headed dog evocative of the Greek Cerberus, the monstrous being that guards the underworld. Other works feature a sleek, Sphinx-like character lounging on lace, along with ouroboros snakes, disembodied hands, florals, and vessels. Rendered with a distinctive lustrous quality, Shuo Hao’s subject matter tends to conjure moments of transition, and likely, transformation.

Having closed a solo exhibition this fall, Shuo Hao is currently in her own phase of change as she reflects and reorients herself. Some of this occurs through writing, which the artist considers an essential companion to her painting practice. “I write daily—thoughts, stories—and each session gives me a strong feeling of being alive. Writing and painting interact and support each other,” she adds.

Find much more of Shuo Hao’s work on Instagram.

Do stories and artists like this matter to you? Become a Colossal Member today and support independent arts publishing for as little as $7 per month. The article Luminous Paintings Conjure Change in Shuo Hao’s Antique Furniture Assemblages appeared first on Colossal.

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WASHINGTON (ANP/RTR/BLOOMBERG) - De Verenigde Staten geven het Russische oliebedrijf Lukoil een maand extra de tijd om een koper te vinden voor zijn buitenlandse bezittingen. De deadline zou aanstaande zaterdag zijn, maar is nu met een maand opgeschoven.

De regering-Trump kwam eerder dit jaar met sancties tegen Lukoil en een andere grote Russische olieproducent, Rosneft, om Moskou onder druk te zetten de oorlog in Oekraïne te beëindigen. Lukoil kondigde daarop aan zijn buitenlandse bezittingen te verkopen.

Om onderhandelingen over een overname mogelijk te maken, stelde het Amerikaanse ministerie van Financiën bepaalde transacties van Lukoil tijdelijk vrij van sancties. Deze situatie zou zaterdag aflopen, maar is verlengd tot 17 januari.

De namen van veel investeerders doen de ronde als potentiële kopers. Eerder leek er een deal te zijn met het Zwitserse Gunvor, maar dat trok zich terug na kritiek uit Washington.