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US SEC Preparing To Scrap Quarterly Reporting Requirement The U.S. SEC is reportedly preparing a proposal to make quarterly earnings reports optional, potentially allowing companies to report results just twice a year. "The proposal could be published as soon as next month," reports Reuters, citing a paywalled report from the Wall Street Journal, adding that "regulators are in talks with major exchanges to discuss how their rules may need to be adjusted." Reuters reports: The SEC will vote on the proposal once it is published, after a public comment period which typically lasts at least 30 days, the report said. The WSJ report added that the rule is expected to make quarterly reporting optional and not eliminate it altogether. The proposed change in the reporting standard would allow listed companies to publish results every six months instead of the current mandate to report figures every 90 days. Trump, who first floated the idea in his first term as president, has argued the change in requirements would discourage shortsightedness from public companies while cutting costs. Skeptics, however, caution delaying disclosures could reduce transparency and heighten market volatility. https://slashdot.org/story/26/03/17/039203/us-sec-prepari… at Slashdot. https://slashdot.org/story/26/03/17/039203/us-sec-prepari…

Qatar Helium Shutdown Puts Chip Supply Chain On a Two-Week Clock Iranian drone strikes shut down a major helium facility in Qatar, removing about 30% of global helium supply and raising concerns for the semiconductor industry, which relies on the gas for chip fabrication. "QatarEnergy declared force majeure on existing contracts on March 4, freeing it from supply obligations to customers," reports Tom's Hardware. The industry outlet Gasworld reports that no imminent restart is planned. From the report: Helium consultant Phil Kornbluth, speaking at a Gasworld webinar on March 4, said that if the outage extends beyond roughly two weeks, industrial gas distributors could be forced to relocate cryogenic equipment and revalidate supplier relationships, a process that could stretch over months regardless of when Qatari output resumes. South Korea is among the most exposed countries, which, according to the Korea International Trade Association, imported 64.7% of its helium from Qatar in 2025. The country relies heavily on helium imports to cool silicon wafers during fabrication and is understood to have no viable substitute. The country's Ministry of Trade, Industry and Resources has reportedly launched an investigation into supply and demand for 14 semiconductor materials and equipment types with high dependence on Middle Eastern sources, Nikkei reported on Wednesday. Bromine, which is used in circuit formation, is another big concern, with South Korea sourcing 90% of its imports from Israel, also party to the ongoing conflict in Iran. <a href="http://twitter.com/home?status=Qatar+Helium+Shutdown+Puts…" rel="nofollow"><img src=""></a> <a href="http://www.facebook.com/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Ftech.s…" rel="nofollow"><img src=""></a> https://tech.slashdot.org/story/26/03/13/190216/qatar-hel… at Slashdot. https://tech.slashdot.org/story/26/03/13/190216/qatar-hel…

Meta Delays Rollout of New AI Model After Performance Concerns Meta has delayed the release of its next major AI model after internal tests showed it lagging behind competing systems from Google, OpenAI, and Anthropic. The New York Times reports: The model, code-named Avocado, outperformed Meta's previous A.I. model and did better than Google's Gemini 2.5 model from March, two of the people said. But it has not performed as strongly as Gemini 3.0 from November, they said. As a result, Meta has delayed Avocado's release to at least May from this month, the people said. They added that the leaders of Meta's A.I. division had instead discussed temporarily licensing Gemini to power the company's A.I. products, though no decisions have been reached. [...] It takes time to improve A.I. models, and Meta can still catch up to rivals, A.I. experts said. But a longer timeline has set in at the company, with Mr. Zuckerberg tempering expectations for Avocado in the past few months. "I expect our first models will be good, but more importantly will show the rapid trajectory we're on," he said on a call with investors in January. A Meta spokesperson said in a statement: "As we've said publicly, our next model will be good but, more importantly, show the rapid trajectory we're on, and then we'll steadily push the frontier over the course of the year as we continue to release new models. We're excited for people to see what we've been cooking very soon." <a href="http://twitter.com/home?status=Meta+Delays+Rollout+of+New…" rel="nofollow"><img src=""></a> <a href="http://www.facebook.com/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Ftech.s…" rel="nofollow"><img src=""></a> https://tech.slashdot.org/story/26/03/13/1756229/meta-del… at Slashdot. https://tech.slashdot.org/story/26/03/13/1756229/meta-del…

Live Nation Execs Brag About 'Robbing' Ticket Buyers In Slack DMs An anonymous reader quotes a report from Pitchfork: Earlier this week, the U.S. Department of Justice and Live Nation reached a settlement in the DOJ's antitrust lawsuit against the concert giant. During the trial, which lasted only a week, representatives for Live Nation had moved to exclude a collection of Slack direct messages from 2022 between two of the company's regional directors from the evidence presented to the jury. Bloomberg and a number of other publications have, as of today (March 12), successfully petitioned New York federal judge Arun Subramanian to release the chats. The conversations are between Ben Baker, now head of ticketing for Venue Nation, and Jeff Weinhold, currently a senior director in the ticketing department. Baker and Weinhold joke about overcharging and price-gouging fans -- "Robbing them blind, baby," Baker brags in one exchange pertaining to a Kid Rock show in Tampa Bay -- as well as being able to raise prices on ancillary services such as parking seemingly at will. "These people are so stupid," Baker writes. "I almost feel bad taking advantage of them BAHAHAHAHAHA." Live Nation described the messages as "off-the-cuff banter, not policy, decision-making, or facts of consequence." In a statement the company has since added: "The Slack exchange from one junior staffer to a friend absolutely doesn't reflect our values or how we operate." <a href="http://twitter.com/home?status=Live+Nation+Execs+Brag+Abo…" rel="nofollow"><img src=""></a> <a href="http://www.facebook.com/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fyro.sl…" rel="nofollow"><img src=""></a> https://yro.slashdot.org/story/26/03/13/0524226/live-nati… at Slashdot. https://yro.slashdot.org/story/26/03/13/0524226/live-nati…

Apple's App Store In China Gets Lower 25% Commission To Appease Regulators Apple will cut its App Store commission in China from 30% to 25% starting March 15, with small-business and mini-app rates dropping from 15% to 12%. AppleInsider reports: Chinese regulators have been back and forth with Apple in recent years over the 30% App Store commission. The latest publicly known pressure occurred after President Trump slammed the country with seemingly random and outrageous tariffs in 2025. While nothing much else has happened in the public eye in the year since, Apple has announced a new commission rate via its developer blog. The new rates go into effect on March 15. The current standard 30% rate is dropping to 25% for in-app purchases and paid app transactions. The Small Business Program and Mini Apps Partner Program will see rates drop from 15% to 12%. That lower rate applies to auto-renewals of in-app purchase subscriptions after the first year. Mini Apps are for transactions found in super apps like those popularized in China. [...] Developers will need to sign the updated terms, but the new rates are applied automatically. It is unclear if these new changes will prevent regulatory action from China. <a href="http://twitter.com/home?status=Apple's+App+Store+In+China…" rel="nofollow"><img src=""></a> <a href="http://www.facebook.com/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fapple.…" rel="nofollow"><img src=""></a> https://apple.slashdot.org/story/26/03/13/051218/apples-a… at Slashdot. https://apple.slashdot.org/story/26/03/13/051218/apples-a…

Facial Recognition Error Jails Innocent Grandmother For Months Mr. Dollar Ton shares a report from the Guardian: Angela Lipps, 50, spent nearly six months in jail after Fargo police identified her as a suspect in an organized bank fraud case using facial recognition software, according to south-east North Dakota news outlet InForum. Lipps told the outlet she had never been to North Dakota and did not commit the crimes. Lipps, a mother of three and grandmother of five, said she has lived most of her life in north-central Tennessee. She had never been on an airplane until authorities flew her to North Dakota last year to face charges. In July, U.S. marshals arrested Lipps at her Tennessee home while she was babysitting four children. She said she was taken away at gunpoint and booked into a county jail as a fugitive from justice from North Dakota. "I've never been to North Dakota, I don't know anyone from North Dakota," Lipps told WDAY News. She remained in a Tennessee jail for nearly four months without bail while awaiting extradition. She was charged with four counts of unauthorized use of personal identifying information and four counts of theft. According to Fargo police records obtained by WDAY News, detectives investigating bank fraud cases in April and May 2025 reviewed surveillance video of a woman using a fake U.S. army military ID to withdraw tens of thousands of dollars. The officers allegedly used facial recognition software to identify the suspect as Lipps. A detective reportedly wrote in court documents that Lipps appeared to match the suspect based on facial features, body type and hairstyle. Lipps told WDAY News that no one from the Fargo police department contacted her before the arrest. Lipps is now back home but says the experience has had lasting consequences. While jailed and unable to pay bills, Lipps lost her home, her car and her dog, she said. She also told WDAY News no one from the Fargo police department had apologized. <a href="http://twitter.com/home?status=Facial+Recognition+Error+J…" rel="nofollow"><img src=""></a> <a href="http://www.facebook.com/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fyro.sl…" rel="nofollow"><img src=""></a> https://yro.slashdot.org/story/26/03/13/0513251/facial-re… at Slashdot. https://yro.slashdot.org/story/26/03/13/0513251/facial-re…

Italian Prosecutors Seek Trial For Amazon, Four Execs Over Alleged $1.4 Billion Tax Evasion An anonymous reader quotes a report from Reuters: Milan prosecutors have requested trial for Amazon's European unit and four of its managers over alleged tax evasion worth around $1.38 billion, two sources with direct knowledge of the matter said on Thursday. The move is unprecedented for a case of this kind in Italy, as Amazon agreed in December to pay 527 million euros, including interest, to Italy's Revenue Agency to settle the tax dispute. In all previous cases involving other international groups, once a settlement was reached and payment made, prosecutors closed related criminal investigations, either through plea deals or by dropping the cases. This time, however, Milan prosecutors did not share the tax authority's approach and decided to press ahead with their probe, leading to a request that the suspects be sent to trial. After December's tax settlement, Amazon said it would "forcefully defend its position on the potential ungrounded criminal case." It added: "Unpredictable regulatory environments, disproportionate penalties, and protracted legal proceedings are increasingly affecting Italy's attractiveness as an investment destination." Under what's described as a "VAT-avoidance algorithm," prosecutors accuse Amazon and four managers of enabling large-scale VAT evasion on goods sold in Italy between 2019 and 2021, allowing tens of thousands of non-EU marketplace sellers to sell goods in the country without clearly disclosing their identities. They allege that this helped the sellers avoid paying value-added tax. "Under Italian law, an intermediary offering goods for sale in Italy is jointly responsible for unpaid VAT by non-EU sellers operating through its platform," notes Reuters. <a href="http://twitter.com/home?status=Italian+Prosecutors+Seek+T…" rel="nofollow"><img src=""></a> <a href="http://www.facebook.com/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fyro.sl…" rel="nofollow"><img src=""></a> https://yro.slashdot.org/story/26/03/12/2252218/italian-p… at Slashdot. https://yro.slashdot.org/story/26/03/12/2252218/italian-p…

Apple MacBook Neo Beats Ever Single x86 PC CPU For Single-Core Performance Early benchmarks show the A18 Pro-powered MacBook Neo beating every current x86 CPU in single-core Cinebench performance, including chips from Intel and AMD. Notebookcheck reports: We have performed a couple of benchmarks and were particularly impressed by the single-core performance. Not in the short Geekbench test, but in Cinebench 2024, where a single-core test takes about 10 minutes. The A18 Pro consumes between 3.5-4 Watts in this scenario and scores 147 points. This means it is faster than every other x86 processor in our database, including the two desktop processors Intel Core Ultra 9 285K & AMD Ryzen 9 9950X3D. This also means the MacBook Neo beats every modern mobile processor from AMD, Intel and also Qualcomm, even though the upcoming Snapdragon X2 chips should be a bit faster. The A18 Pro is also slightly faster than Apple's own M3 generation in this scenario. Further reading: ASUS Executive Says MacBook Neo is 'Shock' to PC Industry <a href="http://twitter.com/home?status=Apple+MacBook+Neo+Beats+Ev…" rel="nofollow"><img src=""></a> <a href="http://www.facebook.com/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fhardwa…" rel="nofollow"><img src=""></a> https://hardware.slashdot.org/story/26/03/12/230230/apple… at Slashdot. https://hardware.slashdot.org/story/26/03/12/230230/apple…

London Man Wore Smart Glasses For High Court 'Coaching' A witness in a London High Court case was caught using smart glasses connected to his phone to receive real-time coaching while giving evidence during cross-examination. "In my judgement, from what occurred in court, it is clear that call was made, connected to his smart glasses, and continued during his evidence until his mobile phone was removed from him," said Judge Raquel Agnello KC. "Not only have I held that Jakstys was untruthful in denying his use of the smart glasses and his calls to abra kadabra, but the effect of this is that his evidence is unreliable and untruthful." The BBC reports: The claim arose during a ruling by Judge Raquel Agnello KC in a case brought by Laimonas Jakstys over the directorship of a property development company that owns a flat in south-east London and land in Tonbridge. Jakstys was told to remove the glasses after the court noticed he "seemed to pause quite a bit" before answering questions, and that "interference" was heard coming from around the witness. The judge later found that he had been "assisted or coached in his replies to questions put to him during cross examination" during the January trial. Once the glasses were taken off, an interpreter was still translating a question when Jakstys' mobile phone began broadcasting a voice -- which he later blamed on Chat GPT. Agnello said: "There was clearly someone on the mobile phone talking to Jakstys. He then removed his mobile phone from his inner jacket pocket." He denied using the smart glasses to receive answers, and denied they were connected to his phone. But the judge said multiple calls had been made from his phone to a contact named "abra kadabra," whom he claimed was a taxi driver. <a href="http://twitter.com/home?status=London+Man+Wore+Smart+Glas…" rel="nofollow"><img src=""></a> <a href="http://www.facebook.com/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fyro.sl…" rel="nofollow"><img src=""></a> https://yro.slashdot.org/story/26/03/12/236257/london-man… at Slashdot. https://yro.slashdot.org/story/26/03/12/236257/london-man…

Microsoft Backs Anthropic To Halt US DOD's 'Supply-Chain Risk' Designation joshuark shares a report from Reuters: Microsoft has filed an amicus brief on Tuesday in support of Anthropic's lawsuit asking the court to temporarily block the U.S. Department of Defense designation of the AI startup as a supply-chain risk. In an amicus brief filing in a federal court in San Francisco, Microsoft backed Anthropic's request for a temporary restraining order against the Pentagon order, arguing that its determination should be paused while the court considers the case. Microsoft, which integrates the AI lab's products and services into technology it provides to the U.S. military, said that it was directly impacted by the DOD designation. "Should this action proceed without the entry of a temporary restraining order, Microsoft and other government contractors with expertise in developing solutions to support U.S. government missions will be forced to account for a new risk in their business planning," the company said. Microsoft's filing argued the TRO is needed to prevent costly disruptions for suppliers, who would otherwise have to rapidly rebuild offerings that rely on Anthropic's products. The judge overseeing the case must approve Microsoft's request to file the brief before it is officially entered, but courts often permit outside parties to weigh in on important cases. <a href="http://twitter.com/home?status=Microsoft+Backs+Anthropic+…" rel="nofollow"><img src=""></a> <a href="http://www.facebook.com/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fslashd…" rel="nofollow"><img src=""></a> https://slashdot.org/story/26/03/12/2049252/microsoft-bac… at Slashdot. https://slashdot.org/story/26/03/12/2049252/microsoft-bac…

Perplexity's 'Personal Computer' Lets AI Agents Access Your Local Files Perplexity AI has introduced a "Personal Computer" agent system that can run on a local machine such as a Mac mini, giving its AI agents access to a user's files and applications to automate tasks. According to CEO Aravind Srinivas, the heavy AI processing runs on Perplexity's "secure servers" but sensitive actions will require user approval. There will also be activity logs and a kill switch available to help ease concerns. AppleInsider reports: Perplexity Computer is, effectively, an AI that is a go-between for other AIs. Instead of issuing specific instructions to multiple AIs, you provide the general outcome of the task to Perplexity Computer. Perplexity Computer then breaks down the task into subtasks, which it then provides to sub-agents to do the actual work. In effect, you're talking to a project manager, who then delegates the task to other AIs, before combining the results and presenting them to you. The managing AI has a lot more freedom in how it orders its subordinates than users may think. While one may create documents while another gathers data, the manager may go as far as to order the creation of software to complete its tasks. Personal Computer is an extension of this, in that it is a locally run app that ideally runs on a Mac mini. The app gives always-on, local access to the Mac's files and apps, which Perplexity Computer and the Comet Assistant can use and alter if required. <a href="http://twitter.com/home?status=Perplexity's+'Personal+Com…" rel="nofollow"><img src=""></a> <a href="http://www.facebook.com/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fslashd…" rel="nofollow"><img src=""></a> https://slashdot.org/story/26/03/12/191200/perplexitys-pe… at Slashdot. https://slashdot.org/story/26/03/12/191200/perplexitys-pe…

Honda Cancels All Three EVs That It Planned To Build In the US sinij shares a report from Car and Driver: Honda is making a monumental shift in its business plans. The automaker is canceling the development and launch of the 0 Series SUV, the 0 Series saloon, and the Acura RSX, and as a result, expects to take a significant financial hit in 2026 [of up to $15.8 billion]. The automaker was blunt in its announcement of the changing plans, citing American tariff policies and the unpredictable nature surrounding American EV incentives and fossil fuel regulations. In its release marking the announcement, Honda made it clear that it expected to incur further financial losses over the long term if it went through with launching the cars. Honda also called out changing customer values in China, with buyers focusing more on software features and less on things like fuel efficiency and cabin space. In its release regarding the changing product plans, Honda was shockingly blunt about its situation, saying that it was simply unable to deliver products that offer a better value than that of newer Chinese manufacturers. <a href="http://twitter.com/home?status=Honda+Cancels+All+Three+EV…" rel="nofollow"><img src=""></a> <a href="http://www.facebook.com/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Ftech.s…" rel="nofollow"><img src=""></a> https://tech.slashdot.org/story/26/03/12/1836249/honda-ca… at Slashdot. https://tech.slashdot.org/story/26/03/12/1836249/honda-ca…

Anthropic's Claude AI Can Respond With Charts, Diagrams, and Other Visualschat Anthropic updated Claude so it can automatically generate charts, diagrams, and other interactive visualizations directly inside conversations, rather than only in a side panel. The new visualizations are rolling out now to all users. The Verge reports: As an example, Anthropic says a conversation about the periodic table could lead Claude to generate a visualization of it, featuring interactive elements that let you click inside the table for more information. Another example shows how Claude can generate a visual related to a question about how weight travels through a building. Though Claude will automatically determine whether it should generate a visualization in your chat, Anthropic notes that you can also ask the chatbot to generate a diagram, table, or chart directly. [...] Anthropic already allows you to create charts, documents, tools, and apps through Claude's "artifacts" feature, which opens in a side panel where you can interact, share, and download the AI-generated creation. But, as noted by Anthropic, artifacts are persistent, while the visualizations created within Claude's conversations will change or disappear as the conversation progresses. You can also ask Claude to make changes to the visualizations it creates. <a href="http://twitter.com/home?status=Anthropic's+Claude+AI+Can+…" rel="nofollow"><img src=""></a> <a href="http://www.facebook.com/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Ffeatur…" rel="nofollow"><img src=""></a> https://features.slashdot.org/story/26/03/12/1710246/anth… at Slashdot. https://features.slashdot.org/story/26/03/12/1710246/anth…

Google Maps Gets Its Biggest Navigation Redesign In a Decade, Plus More AI Google Maps is rolling out its biggest update in more than a decade, introducing a Gemini-powered chatbot and a new "Immersive Navigation" interface. "Ask Maps" lets users plan trips, ask questions, and refine travel suggestions conversationally within the app. "The new chatbot will be accessible via a button up near the search bar," notes Ars Technica. "You can ask it anything you're likely to find in Google Maps without jumping into another app. You can ask for directions, of course, but it can also plan out road trips and vacations from a single prompt. Ask Maps works like a chatbot, so it accepts follow-up prompts to refine and expand on its suggestions." Meanwhile, Google is promising a "complete transformation" of the navigation experience in Maps with what they're calling "Immersive Navigation." It brings detailed 3D visuals, smarter route previews, and improved guidance powered by data from Street View and aerial imagery. "You'll see accurate overpasses, crosswalks, landmarks, and signage in the new navigation experience," reports Ars. "Google also aims to solve some of the biggest usability issues with turn-by-turn navigation in this update. [...] Immersive Navigation tries to show you more of the route as you drive, using smart zoom and transparent buildings to help you plan ahead. Voice guidance will also reference turns after the next one where appropriate." Immersive Navigation will also highlights the tradeoffs between different route options, such as longer routes that avoid traffic or tolls. And, as you approach your destination, it will uses Street View imagery, building entrances, and parking information to help you orient yourself. The features are launching on Android and iOS first, with broader platform support coming later. <a href="http://twitter.com/home?status=Google+Maps+Gets+Its+Bigge…" rel="nofollow"><img src=""></a> <a href="http://www.facebook.com/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Ftech.s…" rel="nofollow"><img src=""></a> https://tech.slashdot.org/story/26/03/12/1546207/google-m… at Slashdot. https://tech.slashdot.org/story/26/03/12/1546207/google-m…

Atlassian CEO Cites AI Shift When Announcing Plan To Shed 1,600 Jobs An anonymous reader quotes a report from Bloomberg: Atlassian plans to cut 1,600 jobs or a 10th of its global workforce, joining rivals in slashing staffing to cope with the advent of AI and a broader post-Covid industry slowdown. Australian billionaire founder Mike Cannon-Brookes explained the reductions in a staff memo, while also announcing his chief technology officer was leaving the Sydney-based company. "It would be disingenuous to pretend AI doesn't change the mix of skills we need or the number of roles required in certain areas," Cannon-Brookes said. "It does." <a href="http://twitter.com/home?status=Atlassian+CEO+Cites+AI+Shi…" rel="nofollow"><img src=""></a> <a href="http://www.facebook.com/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fslashd…" rel="nofollow"><img src=""></a> https://slashdot.org/story/26/03/12/0722207/atlassian-ceo… at Slashdot. https://slashdot.org/story/26/03/12/0722207/atlassian-ceo…

Reducing Europe's Nuclear Energy Sector Was 'Strategic Mistake', EU Chief Says An anonymous reader quotes a report from Reuters: Reducing Europe's nuclear energy sector was a "strategic mistake," European Commission chief Ursula von der Leyen said on Tuesday, as governments grapple with an energy crunch from the Iran war. Europe produced around a third of electricity from nuclear power in 1990 but that has fallen to 15%, she told an event in Paris, leaving it reliant on oil and gas imports whose prices have surged in recent days. Being "completely dependent on expensive and volatile imports" of fossil fuels puts Europe at a disadvantage to other regions, von der Leyen said in a speech. "This reduction in the share of nuclear was a choice. I believe that it was a strategic mistake for Europe to turn its back on a reliable, affordable source of low-emissions power." The report notes that the EU does not directly fund nuclear energy projects because all 27 member states have not unanimously supported the technology. However, von der Leyen said the Commission plans to provide a 200-million-euro guarantee from the EU's carbon market to help attract private investment in innovative nuclear technologies. <a href="http://twitter.com/home?status=Reducing+Europe's+Nuclear+…" rel="nofollow"><img src=""></a> <a href="http://www.facebook.com/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fhardwa…" rel="nofollow"><img src=""></a> https://hardware.slashdot.org/story/26/03/12/0137208/redu… at Slashdot. https://hardware.slashdot.org/story/26/03/12/0137208/redu…

Only Half of Americans Went To a Movie Theater In 2025, Study Finds A Pew Research Center survey found that only 53% of U.S. adults went to a movie theater in the past year, while 7% said they've never seen a movie in a theater at all. "The findings reflected a domestic box office still fighting to regain its footing since the COVID-19 pandemic, when ticket sales collapsed 81% in 2020 due to theater closures," reports Variety. From the report: In 2025, moviegoers in the U.S. and Canada bought 769.2 million tickets, less than half of the all-time peak of roughly 1.6 billion tickets sold in 2002, according to data from Nash Information Services. However, an August 2025 study field by NRG/National Research Group showed that 77% of Americans ages 12-74 went to see at least one movie in a theater in the previous 12 months. Box office revenue peaked at an inflation-adjusted $16.4 billion in 2002, and annual ticket revenue held relatively steady through the 2000s and 2010s before falling to under $3 billion in 2020 when theaters closed for months. Last year, U.S. theaters sold just over $9 billion worth of tickets, per media analytics firm Comscore. The number represents a recovery, but nowhere near a full one, as ticket sales have been lagging around 20% below pre-pandemic levels. <a href="http://twitter.com/home?status=Only+Half+of+Americans+Wen…" rel="nofollow"><img src=""></a> <a href="http://www.facebook.com/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fentert…" rel="nofollow"><img src=""></a> https://entertainment.slashdot.org/story/26/03/11/2348256… at Slashdot. https://entertainment.slashdot.org/story/26/03/11/2348256…

GFiber and Astound Broadband To Join Forces GFiber (a.k.a. Google Fiber) and Astound Broadband announced that they plan to merge into a deal backed by infrastructure investor Stonepeak Infrastructure Partners. The resulting company will be majority owned by Stonepeak, with Alphabet becoming a "significant minority shareholder." Light Reading reports: Stonepeak Infrastructure Partners teamed with Patriot Media to acquire Astound in November 2020 for $8.1 billion. Stonepeak is Astound's largest investor. The deal is expected to close in the fourth quarter of 2026. The combined business will be led by the existing GFiber executive team. GFiber is currently led by CEO Dinni Jain. Jain, a former Time Warner Cable and Insight Communications exec, took the helm of what was then called Google Fiber in 2018. "This agreement advances GFiber's mission of redefining internet connectivity and represents a major step toward its goal of operational and financial independence," the companies said. "GFiber will have the external capital and strategic focus needed to accelerate its next phase of growth, expanding its customer-first approach and pioneering fiber technology across the country." GFiber's combination with Astound represents "a strategic opportunity to scale our customer-focused approach to connect more households to a truly different type of internet service," Jain said in a statement. <a href="http://twitter.com/home?status=GFiber+and+Astound+Broadba…" rel="nofollow"><img src=""></a> <a href="http://www.facebook.com/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Ftech.s…" rel="nofollow"><img src=""></a> https://tech.slashdot.org/story/26/03/11/2342217/gfiber-a… at Slashdot. https://tech.slashdot.org/story/26/03/11/2342217/gfiber-a…

Why Falling Cats Always Seem To Land On Their Feet An anonymous reader quotes a report from the New York Times: In a paper, published last month in the journal The Anatomical Record, researchers offered a novel take on falling felines. Their evidence suggests new insights into the so-called falling cat problem, particularly that cats have a very flexible segment of their spines that allows them to correct their orientation midair. [...] People have been curious about falling cats perhaps as long as the animals have been living with humans, but the method to their acrobatic abilities remains enigmatic. Part of the difficulty is that the anatomy of the cat has not been studied in detail, explains Yasuo Higurashi, a physiologist at Yamaguchi University in Japan and lead author of the study. [...] Modern research has split the falling cat problem into two competing models. The first, "legs in, legs out," suggests that cats correct their falling trajectory by first extending their hind limbs before retracting them, using a sequential twist of their upper and then lower trunk to gain the proper posture while in free fall. The second model, "tuck and turn," suggests that cats turn their upper and lower bodies in simultaneous juxtaposed movements. [...] The researchers found that the feline spine was extremely flexible in the upper thoracic vertebrae, but stiffer and heavier in the lower lumbar vertebrae. The discovery matches video evidence showing the cats first turn their front legs, and then their lower legs. The results suggest the cat quickly spins its flexible upper torso to face the ground, allowing it to see so that it can correctly twist the rest of its body to match. "The thoracic spine of the cat can rotate like our neck," Dr. Higurashi said. Experiments on the spine show the upper vertebrae can twist an astounding 360 degrees, he says, which helps cats make these correcting movements with ease. The results are consistent with the "legs in, legs out" model, but definitively determining which model is correct will take more work, Dr. Higurashi says. The results also yielded another discovery: Cats, like many animals, appear to have a right-side bias. One of the dropped cats corrected itself by turning to the right eight out of eight times, while the other turned right six out of eight times. <a href="http://twitter.com/home?status=Why+Falling+Cats+Always+Se…" rel="nofollow"><img src=""></a> <a href="http://www.facebook.com/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fscienc…" rel="nofollow"><img src=""></a> https://science.slashdot.org/story/26/03/11/2151249/why-f… at Slashdot. https://science.slashdot.org/story/26/03/11/2151249/why-f…

Researchers Discover 14,000 Routers Wrangled Into Never-Before-Seen Botnet An anonymous reader quotes a report from Ars Technica: Researchers say they have uncovered a takedown-resistant botnet of 14,000 routers and other network devices -- primarily made by Asus -- that have been conscripted into a proxy network that anonymously carries traffic used for cybercrime. The malware -- dubbed KadNap -- takes hold by exploiting vulnerabilities that have gone unpatched by their owners, Chris Formosa, a researcher at security firm Lumen's Black Lotus Labs, told Ars. The high concentration of Asus routers is likely due to botnet operators acquiring a reliable exploit for vulnerabilities affecting those models. He said it's unlikely that the attackers are using any zero-days in the operation. The number of infected routers averages about 14,000 per day, up from 10,000 last August, when Black Lotus discovered the botnet. Compromised devices are overwhelmingly located in the US, with smaller populations in Taiwan, Hong Kong, and Russia. One of the most salient features of KadNap is a sophisticated peer-to-peer design based on Kademlia (PDF), a network structure that uses distributed hash tables to conceal the IP addresses of command-and-control servers. The design makes the botnet resistant to detection and takedowns through traditional methods. [...] Despite the resistance to normal takedown methods, Black Lotus says it has devised a means to block all network traffic to or from the control infrastructure." The lab is also distributing the indicators of compromise to public feeds to help other parties block access. [...] People who are concerned their devices are infected can check this page for IP addresses and a file hash found in device logs. To disinfect devices, they must be factory reset. Because KadNap stores a shell script that runs when an infected router reboots, simply restarting the device will result in it being compromised all over again. Device owners should also ensure all available firmware updates have been installed, that administrative passwords are strong, and that remote access has been disabled unless needed. <a href="http://twitter.com/home?status=Researchers+Discover+14%2C…" rel="nofollow"><img src=""></a> <a href="http://www.facebook.com/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fit.sla…" rel="nofollow"><img src=""></a> https://it.slashdot.org/story/26/03/11/2140227/researcher… at Slashdot. https://it.slashdot.org/story/26/03/11/2140227/researcher…