Technology

An eye-opening glimpse at the links between two congressional committees and more than 100 defense contractors, consultants, and lobbyists.

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The interactive display below illustrates one piece of the defense revolving door as it has evolved over the last decade. During that time, former congressional officials have strolled through the door and wound up working not just at the largest defense contractors (often called “primes”) but also for a new class of high-technology firms—often involved in artificial intelligence and headquartered in Silicon Valley—that has aggressively expanded its Pentagon contracting efforts. And to be clear, the door leads in both directions; private sector bigwigs sometimes move into influential government positions that could affect the fortunes of their companies.

cross-posted from: https://piefed.world/c/tech/p/1351169/the-ftc-is-cracking-down-on-companies-that-charge-you-a-personalized-price-proposed-enfo

A new Coddy Developer Survey found that four in five developers, 80%, say their use of AI has felt more like a dependence than an advantage.

cross-posted from: https://piefed.world/c/tech/p/1350973/reddit-almost-disappears-from-chatgpt-as-search-citations-drop-86

cross-posted from: https://piefed.world/c/tech/p/1350911/hoard-and-destroy-advocates-demand-federal-probe-of-book-burning-by-ai-giants

cross-posted from: https://piefed.world/c/tech/p/1350931/uber-fined-nearly-eur825-million-euros-for-automated-driver-blocking

Microsoft has apparently found the free time to build a standalone app whose only job is switching your default search engine to Bing across every browser on your PC. It is not force-installed through Windows Update yet, and it is not available in the Microsoft Store either. It is a standalone executable hosted on Microsoft’s official download servers, and we wonder why it even exists.

The app is called Microsoft Recommended Search Settings, and once installed, it prompts you to add extensions to all your installed browsers, which does the job of switching to the Bing homepage experience. After finishing installation, you also get redirected to the Microsoft Rewards page, which is basically a bribe for switching.

cross-posted from: https://piefed.world/c/tech/p/1350978/walmart-finally-adding-tap-to-pay-after-years-of-shoppers-asking-for-it

Full title: The Dutch Data Protection Authority has decided to fine Uber €825 million ($966 million) under European data protection rules for deactivating driver accounts through automated systems without adequately informing them

See how towering data centers transform neighborhoods and landscapes.