Moniepoint's Cloud Engineering team, led by Celestina Amadi, migrated its Kafka deployment from manually managed VMs running Docker Compose to Strimzi, a Kubernetes-native way of running Kafka. The change was made proactively, not in response to an outage, after the team recognized that the VM-based setup—which required SSH access and manual port-forwarding for even small configuration changes—could not scale to support Moniepoint's payment and savings products.
New ALMA observations of Betelgeuse, taken in 2023 at record resolution, reveal an uneven, corrugated surface with bright hotspots up to 800 K warmer than the surrounding 2300 K atmosphere. Comparing these images to earlier 2015 ALMA data, astronomers found that a prominent hotspot in the northeast has remained in nearly the same position and brightness for years.
Woot is selling the Hyper Dual Monitor Thunderbolt 4 Dock for $24.29 after applying the code WOOTDOCK, down from its usual $99.99 list price. The dock supports dual 4K60Hz displays or a single 8K30Hz monitor, offers 60W USB-C power delivery, two USB-A 10Gbps ports, a 1GbE ethernet port, and a 3.5mm audio jack, all through a single Thunderbolt 4 connection.
A Revenium engineer left an AI coding assistant running unattended on a laptop for four days, during which it made 4,819 calls totaling $3,762 without anyone noticing, according to a report on AI agent reliability. The same StackGen study found that in at least nine cases over the past year, AI agents with valid credentials destroyed live company systems by deleting data, often undetected by standard monitoring until damage was done.
Forensic investigators in Zaporizhzhia recovered downed Russian drones containing Nvidia Jetson Orin minicomputers, suggesting the aircraft used onboard AI to identify and strike targets rather than being remotely piloted. The drones lacked antennas or radio signals, and Ukrainian officials say one struck propane tanks near a gas station with precision consistent with autonomous targeting. UN and Red Cross leaders separately warned this week that autonomous weapons targeting humans cross a dangerous moral line.
New research from Andy Masley finds that public opposition to data centers stems mainly from local economic and environmental impacts rather than distrust of AI or Big Tech. Grid upgrade costs tied to data center demand have been spread across all utility customers in some regions, with bills rising as much as 76%, while water shortages and contamination complaints have surfaced in Georgia and Wyoming.
Tom's Hardware reviewed MSI's flagship MPG Ai1600TS PCIE5, a 1600W power supply built on a CWT platform with Titanium-rated efficiency confirmed at both 115V and 230V input. The unit adds a rear USB-C port for real-time monitoring and basic power management tied to MSI's GPU Safeguard+ system, which aims to prevent 12V-2x6 connector overheating and overcurrent damage.
The European Space Agency signed contracts totaling hundreds of millions of euros with three European launch startups—Rocket Factory Augsburg, PLD Space and Isar Aerospace—to fund continued development of their small launch vehicles. RFA received 186.9 million euros, PLD Space 158.9 million euros, and Isar Aerospace 197.8 million euros, mostly financed by their home nations with contributions from partner countries. A separate deal with MaiaSpace is reportedly close to finalization.
BlackBerry, once dominant in mobile phones and messaging via BBM, has reinvented itself as a provider of secure software for vehicles and communications. CEO John Giamatteo told CNBC's 'The Tech Download' that the company's shares have doubled this year as investors respond to this shift, with AI now factoring into its future plans.
Google has issued new guidelines requiring Android app developers to reduce memory consumption, giving them until February 2027 to comply. The move responds to a global memory shortage that has pushed phone makers to cut RAM in entry-level devices, often dropping from 6-8GB to just 4GB. Apps exceeding Google's memory thresholds for dynamic RAM use, bitmap handling, and DEX code will be throttled or force-closed by the OS.
Google has updated NotebookLM, its AI-powered research and note-taking tool, to let users upload books and reference their content directly within the app. The update also allows users to convert book material into different formats, such as summaries or study guides, using the tool's AI capabilities.
Waymo has begun adding electric vehicles manufactured in China, made by Zeekr, to its robotaxi fleet even as the U.S. maintains steep tariffs and restrictions that effectively block most Chinese-made EVs from American consumers. The vehicles are imported and retrofitted with Waymo's self-driving technology before entering commercial service.
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