Author: arcadeloot

from the slapped-around dept At long last, we’ve got a fresh new original episode for you! This week, Mike is joined by David Enrich, business investigations editor for the New York Times, to discuss his new book Murder The Truth, all about the abuse of defamation laws to silence journalists and discourage critical reporting of the rich and powerful. You can also download this episode directly in MP3 format. Follow the Techdirt Podcast on Soundcloud, subscribe via Apple Podcasts or Spotify, or grab the RSS feed. You can also keep up with all the latest episodes right here on Techdirt.…

Tesla was one of the first all-electric brands, giving it a head start compared to other EV brands and longer-standing automakers. That leg up is long gone though. Several major automakers have started to produce impressive EVs in the last few years, and some new companies have been founded and blossomed in the same time frame. What’s more, many companies now offer Tesla supercharger adapters (or NACS plugs of their own), so that their cars can be charged at Tesla’s stations — so that advantage has all but evaporated. As rivals continue to add…

Small business owners must be ready for the real-time payment revolution in 2025, as instantly received payments can create more precise cash flows and improve satisfaction. Real-time payments are any account-to-account fund transfers that give the beneficiary of the transaction immediate access to the funds. This is because the payments are cleared and settled within seconds, at any time of any day, including on public holidays and weekends.  Meanwhile, traditional payment methods are often subject to fund transfer delays, creating uncertainty for small business owners who rely on prompt payments to support their cash flow. For example, checks can take…

Google did something remarkable with the Pixel 9 last year, launching four phones two months earlier than the standard October launch window it reserved for previous models. It was all a bold play to bring Gemini AI to the masses quicker than Apple could release Apple Intelligence on the iPhone 16 models, even if that meant shipping the Pixel 9 running the previous year’s Android version rather than the newest software.Several months later, Apple is facing Apple Intelligence delays for the smart Siri experience that was at the core of Apple’s demos during WWDC 2024. It’s clear that Google’s play…

WAABI Here’s how that works. Whenever its real trucks drive on a highway, Waabi records everything—video, radar, lidar, the state of the driving model itself, and so on. It can rewind that recording to a certain moment and clone the freeze-frame with all the various sensor data intact. It can then drop that freeze-frame into Waabi World and press Play. The scenario that plays out, in which the virtual truck drives along the same stretch of road as the real truck did, should match the real world almost exactly. Waabi then measures how far the simulation diverges from what actually…

EU governments are in talks with four European satellite firms about providing a back-up service for Starlink in Ukraine, as the region pushes to boost tech sovereignty amid mounting transatlantic tensions.  Starlink has provided a vital communications system to Ukraine’s military since Russia’s full-scale invasion began in 2022. It allows the armed forces to coordinate drone strikes, identify targets, and stream battlefield data to troops on the ground in real-time. However, European leaders are increasingly concerned about relying on Starlink — fears stoked by a Reuters report that US officials had threatened to cut off the system in Ukraine if…

The number of people buying smartwatches fell for the first time in the history of the category, according to newly published global sales figures. The data from Counterpoint says shipments fell 7% in 2024. While that’s not a precipitous fall, the sector had previously grown each year prior to that. According to the research the slump may be down to the Apple Watch range falling out of favour somewhat. OnePlus Watch 2 for just £149 Not only has the OnePlus Watch 2 plummeted to only £149 for a limited time, but it now also includes a free pair of OnePlus…

We’re used to low cost parts and a diversity of electronic functions to choose from in our projects, to the extent that our antecedents would be green with envy. Back when tubes were king, electronics was a much more expensive pursuit with new parts, so designers had to be much more clever in their work. [Thomas Scherrer OZ2CPU] has just such a design on his bench, it’s a Heathkit Capaci-Tester designed in 1959, and we love it for the clever tricks it uses. It’s typical of Heathkits of this era, with a sturdy chassis and components mounted on tag strips.…

iOS 18.3.2 contains a supplementary fix for an actively exploited vulnerability. Tuesday’s iOS 18.3.2 update contains a supplementary security fix, fully patching an actively exploited vulnerability present in older versions of the iPhone operating system. On Tuesday, following the launch of the third developer beta of iOS 18.4, Apple released iOS 18.3.2. While the update itself is relatively minor, it includes an important security fix related to web browsing. Specifically, iOS 18.3.2 contains a supplementary fix for a WebKit vulnerability that was believed to have been fully patched with iOS 17.2. According to Apple’s website, the vulnerability meant that attackers were able…

Six malicious packages have been identified on npm (Node package manager) linked to the notorious North Korean hacking group Lazarus. The packages, which have been downloaded 330 times, are designed to steal account credentials, deploy backdoors on compromised systems, and extract sensitive cryptocurrency information. The Socket Research Team discovered the campaign, which linked it to previously known Lazarus supply chain operations. The threat group is known for pushing malicious packages into software registries like npm, which is used by millions of JavaScript developers, and compromising systems passively. Similar campaigns attributed to the same threat actors have been spotted on GitHub and…