Science Daily reports: Researchers showed that unencrypted signals routinely exchanged between WiFi devices and routers can be used to create radio-based images of people and recognize them within seconds. In tests involving 197 participants, the system identified individuals with nearly 100% accuracy, even from different angles and regardless of how they walked. "By observing the propagation of radio waves, we can create an image of the surroundings and of persons who are present," says Professor Thorsten Strufe from KASTEL, KIT's Institute of Information Security and Dependability. "This works similar to a normal camera, the difference being that in our case, radio waves instead of light waves are used for the recognition," explains the cybersecurity expert. Because the technique analyzes radio waves moving through a space, a person does not need to have a phone, smartwatch, or other WiFi enabled device with them. "Thus, it does not matter whether you carry a WiFi device on you or not." Even turning off your own device would not necessarily prevent the system from working. "It's sufficient that other WiFi devices in your surroundings are active...." Connected devices routinely send information back to the router to help optimize wireless communication. These signals, known as beamforming feedback information (BFI), are transmitted without encryption, meaning that anyone within range can potentially read them. By analyzing that information, the system can generate images of people from multiple viewpoints. Those images can then be used to determine a person's identity. Once the machine learning model has already been trained to recognize individuals, the identification process takes only a few seconds.

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It's not just RAM prices that are going up, writes CNET. "Reports suggest the cost of Windows licenses for manufacturers is rising by up to 10%." Several sites that closely follow Microsoft news, including Windows Central and Windows Latest, have published articles citing a report from Taiwan's Economic Daily News that claims some PC manufacturers are seeing a 7% to 10% increase in the cost of Windows 11 licenses... Because they buy licenses in bulk, they get a sizeable discount over what a consumer would pay for a new copy of Windows 11. But given the existing cost pressures from other components, a big Windows 11 price hike could lead them to pass on some of the added cost to PC buyers. According to the EDN story, PC makers could raise prices by about 5% over the next quarter due to the reported Windows price hike. .. A translated version of the Economic Daily News article contains information from an unnamed PC brand executive. It says that while Microsoft typically raises licensing costs every year by single-digit percentages, that hike has reached 7% to 10% this year, a significant increase. "A representative for Microsoft declined to comment on the report," according to the article. But it also notes that three weeks ago laptop maker Framework blamed price hikes and reconfigurations for some of their models on processor, memory, storage, "and other silicon costs — but also "an increase in Windows license costs." Thanks to Slashdot reader joshuark for sharing the article.

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2025年7月22日の記事を編集して再掲載しています。ランダムって、もはや奇跡。 裁判員の選出や宝くじなど、私たちの生活には「無作為の抽出」、つまり「乱数」がおおいにかかわっています。 ただ、その抽選で選ばれた数字は本当にランダムなのでしょ…

や、山盛りじゃん！WWDC 26で発表され、現在は開発者向けのベータテストが進んでいる、iPhone用の基本ソフトウェア、iOS 27。その中にちょっとしたサプライズを発掘。Macworldが報じるところによると、先日開発者向けにリリースさ…

世界中の秩序が乱れて人類が破滅に向かうアルマゲドンの明日に備えて、核兵器の及ばない南半球の国々に土地やバンカー（地下壕）を確保する動きがシリコンバレーの富裕層の間で広まっています。富豪たちが各地で購入した避難所あれこれニュージーランドに広大…

2025年6月25日の記事を編集して再掲載しています。新種なら、「クビノワグマ」とか呼ばれそう。米ミシガン州で、ちょっと変わったクマが発見されました。とある住民の方が私有地に設置したカメラに映ったそのクマは、首の周りに輪っかがついているので…

iPhone高すぎるので、リースは結構アリかも？iPhone、iPad、MacBookなど、持っているAppleのデバイスは、すべてつながっていて、自分のデータがどのデバイスでもシームレスに開けますよね。アプリの状態や書類、健康情報、写真（…

日本でも電動キックボード関連の事故が多く起こっています。電動キックボードでの事故は、バイク事故よりも重い脳損傷を負いやすいことが、学術誌『Scientific Reports』に掲載された研究で明らかになりました。かなりのハイリスク英国ロン…

An anonymous reader quotes a report from Ars Technica: On Monday, passengers aboard Delta flight 591 going from Las Vegas to Atlanta allegedly spoofed the onboard Wi-Fi, raising the attention of federal law enforcement. The incident came one day after the DEF CON security conference concluded in Las Vegas, and was first described on social media accounts that follow publicly available air-to-ground messages, known as ACARS. According to the "ACARS Drama" account, a message was sent by pilots from the plane stated: "NO INFO AS OF NOW WE HAVE A BUNCH OF PAX THAT WERE AT A CYBER CONFERENCE IN LAS THEY WERE ABLE TO JAM OUR WIFI AND BROADCAST THEIR SIGNAL." A description of the incident posted to Reddit further stated that these passengers created a fake hotspot ("Delta WiFi Fast"), with a phishing landing page "designed to harvest passengers' personal credentials." This technique, sometimes known as an "evil twin" attack, has been long-known to the IT security community. It involves setting up a fake Wi-Fi network and then capturing login credentials and other data. "One initial finding is an unauthorized WiFi network, which was not provided, operated, or supplied by Delta, was present onboard the aircraft for a short time during the flight," said a Delta spokesperson. Delta further noted that the flight's safety was "never in question and no aircraft operating systems were affected," and that no emergency was declared. Ars notes that the "actual onboard Wi-Fi was disabled for 30 minutes."

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At its Made by Google 2026 event today, Google unveiled a slew of new devices, headlined by the Pixel 11, Pixel 11 Pro, and Pixel 11 Pro Fold. Here's a breakdown of the company's latest smartphones, provided by TechCrunch: Pixel 11: The standard Pixel 11 gets a redesigned camera bar that is thinner than the one on the previous generation. Google says the new camera bar is more than 40% thinner and now uses an all-glass surface that stretches across the width of the phone. Google is also increasing the base storage to 256GB, doubling the previous starting capacity. The starting price for the new model is set at $899, reflecting a $100 increase compared to the Pixel 10. This price hike comes with the decision to drop the 128GB storage option. Plus, the ongoing RAM supply shortage plays a part in this increase. Pixel 11 Pro and Pro XL: Google is making durability a bigger part of the Pro lineup. The company says the Pixel 11 Pro and Pixel 11 Pro XL have improved drop resistance and a new anti-scratch display coating that provides more than twice the scratch resistance of the Pixel 10 Pro models. The Pixel 11 Pro starts at $1,099, compared to $999 for the Pixel 10 Pro. Pixel 11 Pro Fold: Google says the new foldable is nearly 10% lighter and almost 1mm thinner than the Pixel 10 Pro Fold. It also has slimmer bezels, a 48-megapixel main camera, and 30x Super Zoom. The company is also building on the IP68 water and dust resistance introduced with the Pixel 10 Pro Fold. The Pixel 11 Pro Fold uses a glass-fiber composite back cover designed to better withstand cracking, while a redesigned hinge offers additional protection for the inner display. Google says the changes make the model three times more durable than its predecessor. There were also several new Gemini-powered features unveiled at the event. Google is expanding "Live Transcribe" to support American Sign Language, using the Pixel Camera to translate signing into text in real time. A new voice-input feature called "Rambler" is designed to understand natural, unstructured speech, including filler words and run-on sentences. Google is also integrating "Circle to Search" more directly into the Pixel Camera for identifying objects, translating text, and asking questions about what users see.

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判断は早い。2026年7月30日、Google Earth内でNano Banana 2による画像生成機能が利用可能になったとGoogleがアナウンスしました。いわく「近所の空き地を見て100年前の街を思い描いてみない？」だそうで。ところが…

ChatGPTの新しい音声モデル「GPT-Live」が登場しました。会話しながら同時にこちらの声を聞き取れるフルデュプレックス機能を搭載し、相槌や言い淀みにも対応。バックグラウンドでの思考やリアルタイム翻訳もスムーズになりました。無料・有料問わず順次展開中の本機能の仕組みや実際の使い心地を詳しく紹介します。

Microsoft's cloud storage app OneDrive got a new Photos app in the worst possible way, reports the blog Neowin . "The app is reportedly showing up even on Windows 11 Enterprise machines, despite apparently being a beta application aimed at consumer functionality." One admin questioned why a beta app was appearing on an Enterprise SKU in the first place, while another described the situation as yet another consumer-oriented feature being forced onto corporate PCs. Things get even more frustrating for IT departments because there does not appear to be a straightforward Microsoft-provided way to disable the app... Enterprise administrators generally need to know what is being installed on their managed devices, particularly when a software is labeled as beta. Quietly adding another application and leaving admins to clean it up themselves is therefore unlikely to win Microsoft many fans. But there's another problem, according to the blog Windows Latest. "OneDrive Photos automatically scans your system storage for photos," and apparently "doesn't need a Microsoft account to work, as it can also detect your local files." There's also a People section that groups similar faces in your photos. Microsoft asks for permission before turning it on and explicitly warns that facial data could be considered biometric data in some regions. The company says only you can see the grouped faces, that the data isn't shared with third parties, and that you can delete it by disabling the feature. In a statement to Neowin, Microsoft admitted this new photos "experience" they're "incubating" had gone "more broadly than it should have," and then promised that "We're fixing that." The spokesperson also said the Windows Photos app will "always give you the option of local and cloud photos" and, also a choice of whether or not to use it OneDrive." But there's another "awkward catch," notes the blog Digital Trends. "Users currently can't uninstall OneDrive Photos without removing the main OneDrive app too." Because OneDrive Photos is tied to the main OneDrive sync client, Windows 11 doesn't currently offer a separate uninstall option. The only straightforward way to get rid of OneDrive Photos right now is to uninstall OneDrive itself... Removing the main client can also affect its File Explorer integration and shortcuts... Microsoft says this will change. The company is working on controls that will let users remove OneDrive Photos separately from the main OneDrive app. On enterprise PCs managed through Intune, Microsoft says the app will automatically disappear where it isn't supported.

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デザイナーよ、どう使いこなす。Adobeが「ChatGPT向けアドビプラグイン」をリリースしました。Photoshopなどの定番AdobeソフトをChatGPTに動かしてもらう、魔法のようなプラグインです。ですが詳しい人であれば「去年似たよ…

これ、めちゃくちゃいいじゃん。KDDIと沖縄セルラーは、auユーザー向けにもう1つの電話番号が持てる「セカンドナンバー」の提供を開始しました。最近は、物理SIMとeSIMの組み合わせで複数の回線が使えるスマートフォンもありますが、その場合、…

広告から逃れられる場所はもうどこにもない。BMWは現在、スパイダーマンとブランドパートナーシップを記念したドライバーへの「特別なサプライズ」として一部の車両のコントロールディスプレイに、映画『スパイダーマン：ブランド・ニュー・デイ』の宣伝を…

日本はどうなんでしょうね？経済ニュースメディアCNBCの最新の分析によると、3月31日までの12か月間にアメリカ下院議員事務所、委員会、機関アカウントが特定可能なAIツールの利用料として支払った金額のうち、約9割を占めていたのは、OpenA…

そんなコラボもあり得るのか…！PC作業のお供として愛されるピザ。ギズモードでも、海外イベントの中継の時などはオフィスにピザが届くことが多いです。そんな事情は海を越えても共通。お隣の台湾では、こんなコラボレーションが発表されました。よーく見る…

メモリ不足、PCパーツ価格高騰で、消費者はもちろんメーカーも疲れきっていると思っていましたが…。Nothingの共同創設者Akis Evangelidis氏が、あるインタビューで2027年のプランに言及。めっちゃくちゃたくさんスマホリリース…

UI changes, lost productivity, untransferrable knowledge... Long-time Slashdot reader theodp notes the folly of switching to an unfamiliar new environment to be "more productive"... Champions of the switch often insist workers will be able to hit the ground running and get the same or even more work done from the get-go in the new unfamiliar environment because it's 'more productive', a conclusion often shaped by conventional wisdom or their 'gut' feeling. Decision makers may also mistake their own 'light-user experience' for universal experience and believe all platforms are fungible. And while it's one thing for a business to delay their delivery dates and increase costs of by introducing a switch in computing environments that's of unquantified and possibly dubious value, how about when a switch in computing environments is made that affects schoolchildren's ability to learn for a period of time? While a MacBook Neo is indeed cute, what might be the possible consequences of a decision to move 25,000 students off Windows and onto MacBook Neos...? Or even the impact on a single kid who moves from a MacBook school to a Windows or Chrome school (or whose home computing environment isn't aligned with their school). Or students whose teachers decide learning in their classrooms should now additionally require an understanding of the Minecraft computing platform/UI (used in over 40,000 school systems.). Learning Management Systems and now various AI Edtech tools used by schoolkids are also subject to change. "Even if students and schools eventually benefit from a new platform, one wonders how much learning is lost during the switch," theodp asks, "and what the financial and educational ROI and payback period look like." Are there bigger problems than we realize? Share your own thoughts and experiences in the comments. What are the costs of switching between Windows, MacOS, and Chrome?

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