Posted by BeauHD from Slashdot
From the science-by-press-release department: "For-profit companies are pushing the narrative that they can do space inexpensively," writes Slashdot reader RUs1729 in response to an opinion piece from SpaceNews. "Their track record reveals otherwise: cutting corners won't do it for the foreseeable future." Here's an excerpt from the article, written by Robert N. Eberhart: The headlines in the space industry over the past month have delivered a sobering reminder: space is not forgiving, and certainly not friendly to overpromising entrepreneurs. From iSpace's second failed lunar landing attempt (making them 0 for 2) to SpaceX's ongoing Starship test flight setbacks -- amid a backdrop of exploding prototypes and shifting goalposts -- the evidence is mounting that the commercialization of space is not progressing in the triumphant arc that press releases might suggest. This isn't just a series of flukes. It points to a structural, strategic and cultural problem in how we talk about innovation, cost and success in space today.

Let's be blunt: 50 years ago, we did this. We sent humans to the moon, not once but repeatedly, and brought them back. With less computational power than your phone, using analog systems and slide rules, we achieved feats of incredible precision, reliability and coordination. Today's failures, even when dressed up as "learning opportunities," raises the obvious question: Why are we struggling to do now what we once achieved decades ago with far more complexity and far less technology?

< This article continues on their website >

Posted by BeauHD from Slashdot
From the first-of-many department: An anonymous reader quotes a report from The Guardian: Four teams of humanoid robots took each other on in Beijing [on Saturday], in games of three-a-side powered by artificial intelligence. While the modern game has faced accusations of becoming near-robotic in its obsession with tactical perfection, the games in China showed that AI won't be taking Kylian Mbappe's job just yet. Footage of the humanoid kickabout showed the robots struggling to kick the ball or stay upright, performing pratfalls that would have earned their flesh-and-blood counterparts a yellow card for diving. At least two robots were stretchered off after failing to regain their feet after going to ground.

[...] The competition was fought between university teams, which adapted the robots with their own algorithms. In the final match, Tsinghua University's THU Robotics defeated the China Agricultural University's Mountain Sea team with a score of 5-3 to win the championship. One Tsinghua supporter celebrated their victory while also praising the competition. "They [THU] did really well," he said. "But the Mountain Sea team was also impressive. They brought a lot of surprises." Cheng Hao, CEO of Booster Robotics, said he envisions future matches between humans and robots, though he acknowledges current robots still lag behind in performance. He also said safety will need to be a top priority.

You can watch highlights of the match on YouTube.

Posted by Black Convoy from TFW2005


Via the official Takara Tomy Transformers Twitter/X account we have a new promotional image of the upcoming Synergenex Series Macross 7 x Transformers Basara Convoy. Transformers teams up with Macross 7 anime from 1994!  This mecha is named “Basara Prime”, which combines the name of the Macross 7 protagonist and singer Basara Nekki with Optimus Prime. This new image lets us see some of the figure gimmicks and modes: 3 interchangeable faces, gun and guitar. Robot, gerwalk and Valkyrie modes shown. He got an extra configuration which can attach to a “trailer” for transportantion. The “trailer” transforms into a concert stand with » Continue Reading.

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Posted by Black Convoy from TFW2005


We are saddened to report that G1 comic artist Jim Shooter has passed away today at age 73 after a long fight with cancer, as confirmed by comic book writer Mark Waid on his Facebook account. By the time Mr. Shooter was Marvel’s editor-in-chief, he wrote the initial six-page treatment for The Transformers comic for Marvel which was later taken by Bob Budiansky… and the rest is history. Mr. Shooter’s contribution not only to Transformers, but the comic industry in general is invaluable. Having worked in both Marvel, DC and other companies, he left a legacy for all comic fans in general. » Continue Reading.

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Posted by Black Convoy from TFW2005


We may earn a commission from eBay Partner Network links on this post. Please read our advertising disclosure. Via eBay users icon_of_iacon and Transmimi we have our first in-hand images of the new Studio Series Transformers One Deluxe Elita-1. We have a look at Elita-1 robot and alt mode from different angles plus her jetpack which can be attached to the previous Studio Series Transformers One toys. See the mirrored images after the break and then sound off on the 2005 Boards!

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Posted by BeauHD from Slashdot
From the betting-on-the-future department: Google has signed a deal to purchase 200 megawatts of future fusion energy from Commonwealth Fusion Systems, despite the energy source not yet existing. "It's a sign of how hungry big tech companies are for a virtually unlimited source of clean power that is still years away," reports CNN. From the report: Google and Massachusetts-based Commonwealth Fusion Systems announced a deal Monday in which the tech company bought 200 megawatts of power from Commonwealth's first commercial fusion plant, the same amount of energy that could power roughly 200,000 average American homes. Commonwealth aims to build the plant in Virginia by the early 2030s. When it starts generating usable fusion energy is still TBD, though the company believes they can do it in the same timeframe.

Google is also investing a second round of money into Commonwealth to spur development of its demonstration tokamak -- a donut-shaped machine that uses massive magnets and molten plasma to force two atoms to merge, thereby creating the energy of the sun. Google and Commonwealth did not disclose how much money is being invested, but both touted the announcement as a major step toward fusion commercialization. "We're using this purchasing power that we have to send a demand signal to the market for fusion energy and hopefully move (the) technology forward," said Michael Terrell, senior director of energy and climate at Google.

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Posted by Mechafire from TFW2005


Hasbro Transformers designer Mark Maher continues his behind the scenes looks at new Age Of The Primes figures on his Instagram, this time focusing on Voyager Alpha Trion! “Alpha trion the myth, the legend, the wisest of all transformers is finally ready to walk into your 13 Primes shelf collection and stand handsomely next to his cohorts. He has quite an impressive presence, he has such dignity and grace, coming with the ancient artifacts known as the Covenant of Primus and the 🪶 Quill! . What secrets lie in A-3’s mind, what stories and lore does he possess. War » Continue Reading.

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Posted by BeauHD from Slashdot
From the life-comes-at-you-fast department: Thousands of Norwegians briefly believed they had won massive Eurojackpot prizes after a manual coding error by Norsk Tipping mistakenly multiplied winnings by 100 instead of dividing. The Register reports: Eurojackpot, a pan-European lottery launched in 2012, holds two draws per week, and its jackpots start at about $12 million with a rollover cap of $141 million. Norsk Tipping, Norway's Eurojackpot administrator, admitted on Friday that a "manual error" it its conversion process from Eurocents to Norwegian kroner multiplied amounts by 100 instead of dividing them. As a result, "thousands" of players were briefly shown jackpots far higher than their actual winnings before the mistake was caught, but no incorrect payouts were made.

Norsk Tipping didn't disclose how large the false jackpots were, but math suggests the improper amounts were 10,000x times higher. Regardless, it seems like a lot of people thought they were big winners, based on what the company's now-former CEO, Tonje Sagstuen, said on Saturday. "I have received many messages from people who had managed to make plans for holidays, buying an apartment or renovating before they realized that the amount was wrong," Sagstuen said in a statement. "To them I can only say: Sorry!" The incorrect prize amounts were visible on the Norsk Tipping website only briefly on Friday, but the CEO still resigned over the weekend following the incident.

While one of the Norsk Tipping press releases regarding the incident described it as "not a technical error," it still appears someone fat-fingered a bit of data entry. The company said it will nonetheless be investigating how such a mistake could have happened "to prevent something similar from happening again."

Posted by BeauHD from Slashdot
From the space-is-going-mainstream department: BrianFagioli shares a report from NERDS.xyz: NASA is coming to Netflix. No, not a drama or sci-fi reboot. The space agency is actually bringing real rocket launches, astronaut spacewalks, and even views of Earth from space directly to your favorite streaming service. Starting this summer, NASA+ will be available on Netflix, giving the space-curious a front-row seat to live mission coverage and other programming.

The space agency is hoping this move helps it connect with a much bigger audience, and considering Netflix reaches over 700 million people, that's not a stretch. This partnership is about accessibility. NASA already offers NASA+ for free, without ads, through its app and website. But now it's going where the eyeballs are. If people won't come to the space agency, the space agency will come to them.

Posted by BeauHD from Slashdot
From the would-you-look-at-that department: An anonymous reader quotes a report from Tom's Hardware: Microsoft EVP Yusuf Mehdi said in a blog post last week that Windows powers over a billion active devices globally. This might sound like a healthy number, but according to ZDNET, the Microsoft annual report for 2022 said that more than 1.4 billion devices were running Windows 10 or 11. Given that these documents contain material information and have allegedly been pored over by the tech giant's lawyers, we can safely assume that Windows' user base has been quietly shrinking in the past three years, shedding around 400 million users.

This is probably why Microsoft has been aggressively pushing users to upgrade to Windows 11 after the previous version of the OS loses support -- so that its users would install the latest version of Windows on their current system (or get a new PC if their system is incapable of running the latest version). Although macOS is a threat to Windows, especially with the launch of Apple Silicon, we cannot say that those 400 million users all went and bought a MacBook. That's because, as far back as 2023, Mac sales have also been dropping, with Statista reporting the computer line, once holding more than 85% of the company revenue, now making up just 7.7%. The shrinking Windows user base can be attributed to a combination of factors -- a major one being the global move toward a mobile-first world, where smartphones and tablets are increasingly replacing traditional PCs for everyday computing needs.

At the same time, Microsoft's strict hardware requirements for Windows 11 have alienated users with perfectly functional older machines, prompting some to stick with unsupported versions or abandon Windows entirely. Additionally, many users find Windows 11 less intuitive than its predecessor and are frustrated by Microsoft's push toward data collection and Apple-style design changes.

Posted by BeauHD from Slashdot
From the green-light-red-light department: Automattic has put its plan to migrate Tumblr's backend to WordPress on hold, with CEO Matt Mullenweg citing a shift in focus toward features users are actively requesting. "I still want to do it," Mullenweg says. "It's just cleaner. But right now, we're not working on it." The Verge reports: The decision to halt the change also appears to mean that Tumblr posts won't be available in the fediverse in the near future. WordPress.com currently offers an ActivityPub plug-in, so Tumblr moving onto WordPress would theoretically let people bring Tumblr posts to the fediverse. "That would've been a free way to get it," Mullenweg says. "And so that was one of the arguments for migrating everything to WordPress."

In the meantime, however, "I think if there was a big push to implement fediverse, we would just do it on the Tumblr code base," according to Mullenweg.

Posted by BeauHD from Slashdot
From the record-breaking department: Oracle has signed a landmark $30 billion annual cloud deal -- nearly triple the size of its current cloud infrastructure business -- with revenue expected to begin in fiscal year 2028. The deal was disclosed in a regulatory filing Monday without the customer being named. Bloomberg reports: "Oracle is off to a strong start" in its fiscal year 2026, Chief Executive Officer Safra Catz said in the filing. The company has signed "multiple large cloud services agreements," she said, adding that revenue from Oracle's namesake database that runs on other clouds continues to grow more than 100%.

The $30-billion deal ranks among the largest cloud contracts on record. That revenue alone would represent nearly three times the size of Oracle's current infrastructure business, which totaled $10.3 billion over the past four quarters. A major cloud contract awarded in 2022 from the US Defense Department, that runs through 2028 and could be worth as much as $9 billion, is split among four companies, including Oracle. That award was a shift after an earlier contract worth $10 billion was awarded to Microsoft and was contested in court.

Posted by Black Convoy from TFW2005


We may earn a commission from eBay Partner Network links on this post. Please read our advertising disclosure. Coming to us via eBay users icon_of_iacon and Transmimi we have our first in-hand images of the new Transformers x Monster Hunter Synergenex Series Rathalos Prime. This is a Monster Hunters Wyvern Rathalos which can transform into a new Prime robot. We have clear shots of the dragon and robot mode for your viewing pleasure. Rathalos Prime is retailing for $49.99 with a ship date of October 2025. Hit our sponsors below to snag yours! TFSource, Entertainment » Continue Reading.

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Posted by BeauHD from Slashdot
From the new-lease-on-life department: HP is developing a "PCFax" system similar to CarFax for used cars that securely collects and stores detailed device usage and health data at the firmware level to extend the life of PCs and reduce e-waste. A team of HP experts outlines the system in a recent IEEE Spectrum report: The secure telemetry protocol we've developed at HP works as follows. We gather the critical hardware and sensor data and store it in a designated area of the SSD. This area is write-locked, meaning only authorized firmware components can write to it, preventing accidental modification or tampering. That authorized firmware component we us is the Endpoint Security Controller, a dedicated piece of hardware embedded in business class HP PCs. It plays a critical role in strengthening platform-level security and works independently from the main CPU to provide foundational protection.

The endpoint security controller establishes a secure session by retaining the secret key within the controller itself. This mechanism enables read data protection on the SSD -- where telemetry and sensitive data are stored -- by preventing unauthorized access, even if the operating system is reinstalled or the system environment is otherwise altered. Then, the collected data is recorded in a timestamped file, stored within a dedicated telemetry log on the SSD. Storing these records on the SSD has the benefit of ensuring the data is persistent even if the operating system is reinstalled or some other drastic change in software environment occurs. The telemetry log employs a cyclic buffer design, automatically overwriting older entries when the log reaches full capacity. Then, the telemetry log can be accessed by authorized applications at the operating system level.

< This article continues on their website >

Posted by Black Convoy from TFW2005


Japanese store E-Hobby have updated their website with images and information of some new exclusive Transformers SD acrylic stands. E-Hobby had previously revealed a first wave of fun and cute 5-cm-tall Super Deformed/Chibi Style G1 Transformers acrylic stands and now they have revealed three more characters: Megatron Tarn Magna Convoy Each one is 1760 Yen/$12.23 USD and planned for release by early October 2025. These products are available only in Japan at the moment. See all the promotional images after the break and sound off on the 2005 Boards!

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Posted by msmash from Slashdot
From the how-about-that department: Freelance workers using AI tools are earning significantly more than their counterparts, with AI-related freelance earnings climbing 25% year over year and AI freelancers commanding over 40% higher hourly rates than non-AI workers, according to new data from Upwork.

The freelance marketplace analyzed over 130 work categories and tracked millions of job posts over six months, finding that generative AI is simultaneously replacing low-complexity, repetitive tasks while creating demand for AI-augmented work. Workers using AI for augmentation outnumber those using it for automation by more than 2 to 1. Freelancers with coding skills comprising at least 25% of their work now earn 11% more for identical jobs compared to November 2022 when ChatGPT launched.

Posted by msmash from Slashdot
From the see-you-in-court department: Apple must face the U.S. Department of Justice's lawsuit accusing the iPhone maker of unlawfully dominating the U.S. smartphone market, a judge ruled on Monday. From a report: U.S. District Judge Julien Neals in Newark, New Jersey, denied Apple's motion to dismiss the lawsuit accusing the company of using restrictions on third-party app and device developers to keep users from switching to competitors and unlawfully dominate the market.

The decision would allow the case to go forward in what could be a years-long fight for Apple against enforcers' attempt to lower what they say are barriers to competition with Apple's iPhone.

Posted by from MMO Champion
Mists of Pandaria Classic Development Notes: Pre-Pull Buff Adjustments

Mists of Pandaria Classic Development Notes - June 30

Originally Posted by Blizzard
(Blue Tracker / Official Forums)

We’re continuing to iterate on changes to pre-pull behaviors. See above for the initial list. We’ve made the following additional changes:

The Synapse Springs buffs are removed when the gloves are removed.

Soulshatter can no longer proc effects.

Circle of Flame doesn’t work past level 89.

Sulfuron Slammer cannot be used in raid and will be removed upon entering a raid.

Unconscious Dig Rats can’t be used in raids.

Turnip Punching Bags cannot be used in raids.

Soul Reaper added to the list of effects that are removed on pull.

Hunter Focus no longer goes to max on encounter start.

On-pull actions updated to remove resources from a player if they are the first player to hit the boss or they try to pre-cast a missile spell that has a cost.

For example, if you engage the boss using Chaos Bolt and you are the one engaging, your resources on pull will behave as if you spent resources on a Chaos Bolt. Instead of going to 1 Burning Ember on pull, you will go to 0.

All renews from Shadow Priests are removed on pull (preventing previously-set up spell casts to influence the fight).

Soulburn casts obey the same pre-pull rules and will pull from your encounter start pool if you engage early.

< This article continues on their website >

Posted by msmash from Slashdot
From the router-roulette department: An anonymous reader shares a report: Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) has a plan for spectrum auctions that could take frequencies away from Wi-Fi and reallocate them for the exclusive use of wireless carriers. The plan would benefit AT&T, which is based in Cruz's home state, along with Verizon and T-Mobile.

Cruz's proposal revives a years-old controversy over whether the entire 6 GHz band should be devoted to Wi-Fi, which can use the large spectrum band for faster speeds than networks that rely solely on the 2.4 and 5 GHz bands. Congress is on the verge of passing legislation that would require spectrum to be auctioned off for full-power, commercially licensed use, and the question is where that spectrum will come from.

When the House of Representatives passed its so-called "One Big Beautiful Bill," it excluded all of the frequencies between 5.925 and 7.125 gigahertz from the planned spectrum auctions. But Cruz's version of the budget reconciliation bill, which is moving quickly toward a final vote, removed the 6 GHz band's protection from spectrum auctions. The Cruz bill is also controversial because it would penalize states that regulate artificial intelligence.

Instead of excluding the 6 GHz band from auctions, Cruz's bill would instead exclude the 7.4-8.4 GHz band used by the military. Under conditions set by the bill, it could be hard for the Commerce Department and Federal Communications Commission to fulfill the Congressional mandate without taking some spectrum away from Wi-Fi.

Posted by msmash from Slashdot
From the admission-of-defeat department: Apple is considering using AI technology from Anthropic or OpenAI to power a new version of Siri, according to Bloomberg, sidelining its own in-house models in a potentially blockbuster move aimed at turning around its flailing AI effort. From the report: The iPhone maker has talked with both companies about using their large language models for Siri, according to people familiar with the discussions. It has asked them to train versions of their models that could run on Apple's cloud infrastructure for testing, said the people, who asked not to be identified discussing private deliberations.

If Apple ultimately moves forward, it would represent a monumental reversal. The company currently powers most of its AI features with homegrown technology that it calls Apple Foundation Models and had been planning a new version of its voice assistant that runs on that technology for 2026. A switch to Anthropic's Claude or OpenAI's ChatGPT models for Siri would be an acknowledgment that the company is struggling to compete in generative AI -- the most important new technology in decades. Apple already allows ChatGPT to answer web-based search queries in Siri, but the assistant itself is powered by Apple.