Posted by msmash from Slashdot
From the whose-data-is-it-anyway department: New submitter txyoji shares a report: Enterprise workplace collaboration platform Slack has sparked a privacy backlash with the revelation that it has been scraping customer data, including messages and files, to develop new AI and ML models. By default, and without requiring users to opt-in, Slack said its systems have been analyzing customer data and usage information (including messages, content and files) to build AI/ML models to improve the software.
The company insists it has technical controls in place to block Slack from accessing the underlying content and promises that data will not lead across workplaces but, despite these assurances, corporate Slack admins are scrambling to opt-out of the data scraping. This line in Slack's communication sparked a social media controversy with the realization that content in direct messages and other sensitive content posted to Slack was being used to develop AI/ML models and that opting out world require sending e-mail requests: "If you want to exclude your Customer Data from Slack global models, you can opt out. To opt out, please have your org, workspace owners or primary owner contact our Customer Experience team at
[email protected] with your workspace/org URL and the subject line 'Slack global model opt-out request'. We will process your request and respond once the opt-out has been completed."
Posted by from MMO Champion
This Week in WoW - May 17, 2024
Originally Posted by Blizzard
(
Blue Tracker /
Official Forums)
Catch up on all the latest World of Warcraft news from the last week—relive epic adventures with an all-new event—WoW Remix: Mists of Pandaria, jump into the next content update to Classic—Cataclysm, outfit your collection with a new bundle deal—the Mrlgrl Pack, and more!
World of Warcraft Remix: Mists of Pandaria is Now Live!
Relive epic adventures with an all-new event— World of Warcraft Remix: Mists of Pandaria. Experience the wonders of Pandaria anew, but with fresh new loot— and (almost) unlimited power.
World of Warcraft Remix is a time-limited event that allows players to re-experience the entirety of the Mists of Pandaria expansion at an accelerated rate from level 10 through 70. All loot has been completely overhauled and has powerful new effects allowing players to shape their experience, power up, and power on. Features include:
Accelerated Leveling and Content allowing you to take on nearly every quest, scenario, dungeon and raid.
Create a new World of Warcraft Remix character starting at level 10 to adventure through the event up to level 70.
A mountain of loot: Get powerful items from everywhere— quests, chests, creatures, bosses.
Customizable items allowing you to power up as far as you can go to take on tougher content.
Convert unwanted items into Bronze which can be used to upgrade items or purchase cosmetics.
Keep what you collect: Take your collection of transmogs with you later when The War Within™ goes live.
< This article continues on their website >
Posted by msmash from Slashdot
From the how-about-that department: Apple is developing a significantly thinner version of the iPhone [non-paywalled source] that could be released as early as 2025, The Information reported Friday, citing three people with direct knowledge of the project. From the report: The slimmer iPhone could be released concurrently with the iPhone 17, expected in September 2025, according to the three people with direct knowledge and two others familiar with the project. It could be priced higher than the iPhone Pro Max, currently Apple's most expensive model starting at $1,200, they said.
The people familiar with the project described the new iPhone, internally code-named D23, as a major redesign -- similar to the iPhone X, which Apple marketed as a technological leap from previous generations and which started at $1,000 when it was released in 2017. Several of its novel features, such as FaceID, the OLED screen and glass back, became standard in subsequent models.
Posted by msmash from Slashdot
From the change-in-priorities department: An anonymous reader shares a report: In July last year, OpenAI announced the formation of a new research team that would prepare for the advent of supersmart artificial intelligence capable of outwitting and overpowering its creators. Ilya Sutskever, OpenAI's chief scientist and one of the company's cofounders, was named as the colead of this new team. OpenAI said the team would receive 20 percent of its computing power. Now OpenAI's "superalignment team" is no more, the company confirms. That comes after the departures of several researchers involved, Tuesday's news that Sutskever was leaving the company, and the resignation of the team's other colead. The group's work will be absorbed into OpenAI's other research efforts.
Sutskever's departure made headlines because although he'd helped CEO Sam Altman start OpenAI in 2015 and set the direction of the research that led to ChatGPT, he was also one of the four board members who fired Altman in November. Altman was restored as CEO five chaotic days later after a mass revolt by OpenAI staff and the brokering of a deal in which Sutskever and two other company directors left the board. Hours after Sutskever's departure was announced on Tuesday, Jan Leike, the former DeepMind researcher who was the superalignment team's other colead, posted on X that he had resigned.
Posted by msmash from Slashdot
From the closer-look department: Hopes that replacement fuels for airplanes will slash carbon pollution are misguided and support for these alternatives could even worsen the climate crisis, a new report has warned. The Guardian: There is currently "no realistic or scalable alternative" to standard kerosene-based jet fuels, and touted "sustainable aviation fuels" are well off track to replace them in a timeframe needed to avert dangerous climate change, despite public subsidies, the report by the Institute for Policy Studies, a progressive thinktank, found. "While there are kernels of possibility, we should bring a high level of skepticism to the claims that alternative fuels will be a timely substitute for kerosene-based jet fuels," the report said.
Chuck Collins, co-author of the report, said: "To bring these fuels to the scale needed would require massive subsidies, the trade-offs would be unacceptable and would take resources aware from more urgent decarbonization priorities. It's a huge greenwashing exercise by the aviation industry. It's magical thinking that they will be able to do this." In the US, Joe Biden's administration has set a goal for 3bn gallons of sustainable aviation fuel, which is made from non-petroleum sources such as food waste, woody biomass and other feedstocks, to be produced by 2030, which it said will cut aviation's planet-heating emissions by 20%.
The dust seems to have mostly settled on the Drake vs. Kendrick Lamar rap beef (for now), but the musical back and forth between the two hip-hop titans has imprinted itself on pop culture. That imprint includes video game mods, as a Mortal Kombat 1 fan has recently recreated both rappers in the game to pit them… 
Animal Well doesn’t feature combat in the traditional sense, but it’s not afraid to pit players against intimidating boss monsters. In the northeastern quadrant of the map, you’ll encounter a large chameleon that, among other things, can defeat you in one hit using its tongue. With some trial and error, you can figure… 
Jailbreaking a PlayStation 4 might sound tricky. But actually, all you need nowadays is an LG Smart TV, a few minutes of your time, and the internet. 
Have you been playing Fortnite recently and been absolutely hating the influx of mythical weapons that keep killing you instantly? Well, I’m happy to report that you may have a new fearsome champion on your side, and her name is Doja Cat. Yes, everyone’s favorite alternative rap girlie is a certified hater of… 
We’re reaching the end of yet another week, and that (hopefully) means we’ve got a solid 48 hours of gaming bliss lined up. Perhaps you too are looking forward to spending some time this weekend gaming, but aren’t sure what to pick. 
I first played the retro-inspired RPG Dread Delusion nearly two years ago in the first days of its early access period. I liked what I played in the handful of hours I put into it thanks to the throwback Morrowind-esque world and mechanics, as well as the hint of cosmic horror. But as someone who has a tendency to get … 
A year after Redfall’s disastrous launch, Microsoft announced it would be closing the beloved studio behind it, Arkane Austin. But it sounds like Game Pass’ vampire shooter will still get the big final update Arkane’s devs were working on after all. 
Bethesda’s post-apocalyptic RPG franchise, Fallout, is coming to Fortnite. The franchise recently saw a massive resurgence thanks to the hit Amazon TV show. 
YouTuber and video game documentarian Summoning Salt has made a career out of chronicling remarkable tales of competition and achievement in speedrunning. He’s so good at capturing the inherent drama in these struggles that his videos routinely rack up millions of views, whether he’s recounting the history of Super Mario… 
Popular Twitch streamer Kai Cenat has embarked on a journey few of us could ever do: he’s been marathoning 2022’s hit RPG Elden Ring for the bulk of the last week. Cenat, who accidentally incited a riot in New York last year, announced that he would be playing the game “till I beat it” beginning May 10. It’s now been… 
Creative Assembly, the developer behind the Total War series of strategy games (as well as the best Alien video game ever) is reportedly entering the galaxy far far away. According to a new report from DualShockers, the developer is working on a new entry in the Total War franchise that will be set in the Star Wars… 
