Technology

Hacker News.

A landmark international study across five Central European countries has found hazardous chemicals in every single pair of headphones analysed, from premium models to cheap imports. Authors say the results reveal a systemic failure in consumer safety regulation across the electronics industry. The investigation, conducted as part of the EU-funded ToxFree LIFE for All project, analysed 180 samples of hard and soft plastic components from 81 headphone products marketed to children, teenagers, and adults in the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Hungary, Slovenia, and Austria.

Hacker News.

• Advance UK paid a secretive AI operation to make its political campaign content
• The same group created Danny Bones, a white-nationalist rapper whose videos target Muslims. They have been viewed millions of times
• Experts said this could mark new ground in the use of AI tools for political ends

Hacker News.

HP's long-running use of firmware updates that block third-party ink and toner cartridges is drawing scrutiny again – this time under a new global sustainability standard that explicitly forbids the practice.

The International Imaging Technology Council (Int'l ITC), a trade group for cartridge remanufacturers, says HP's latest printer firmware rollout conflicts with the requirements of the General Electronics Council's (GEC) updated Electronic Product Environmental Assessment Tool, or EPEAT 2.0.

KB5077181 was released about a month ago as part of the February Patch Tuesday rollout. When the update first arrived, users reported a wide range of problems, including boot loops, login errors, and installation issues.

Microsoft has now acknowledged another problem linked to the same update. Some affected users see the message “C:\ is not accessible – Access denied” when trying to open the system drive.

Expensive (95k) but has a cool design: https://www.scottenmotors.com/ev-builds
I would love a smaller car that is also repairable EV.

Also the owner of the company is in the hackaday comments.

The race for semiconductor supremacy is fuelling geopolitical tensions between the world’s superpowers. But a Swiss-based open-source technology aims to prevent a few dominant countries and companies from holding all the chips.

Archive link: https://archive.ph/i8fLH

Hacker News.

... in a moment when Americans are still debating why the country is involved in global conflicts at all, the people closest to power appear positioned to profit from the weapons and technology used in them.

• Research;
• Hacker News.