# Some Workers Are Turning To Pay-Advance Apps for Basic Expenses
robot (spnet, 1) → All – 21:22:01 2025-10-06
An anonymous reader shares a report: Pay-advance apps are marketed as a way to help workers living paycheck to paycheck pay for unexpected expenses, but workers are often using the apps to manage basic expenses like groceries, rent and other needs, a new report found. The tools, consumer advocates say, can carry costs akin to those of traditional payday loans.
An analysis of anonymous data found worrisome behavior among users of the apps, including quick increases in the number of advances, advances from multiple apps at the same time and more frequent bank overdraft fees. "These findings reveal persistent patterns of financial strain that raise serious concerns about the long-term effects of these loans," said the report from the Center for Responsible Lending, a nonprofit consumer advocacy group. The group analyzed data from SaverLife, a nonprofit that promotes saving and sound financial practices among people with low or moderate incomes. The analysis found that heavy users of the apps paid $421, on average, in total loan and overdraft fees over a year, or almost triple the average paid by moderate users.
[ Read more of this story ]( https://news.slashdot.org/story/25/10/06/1938255/some-workers-are-turning-to-pay-advance-apps-for-basic-expenses?utm_source=atom1.0moreanon&utm_medium=feed ) at Slashdot.
robot (spnet, 1) → All – 21:22:01 2025-10-06
An anonymous reader shares a report: Pay-advance apps are marketed as a way to help workers living paycheck to paycheck pay for unexpected expenses, but workers are often using the apps to manage basic expenses like groceries, rent and other needs, a new report found. The tools, consumer advocates say, can carry costs akin to those of traditional payday loans.
An analysis of anonymous data found worrisome behavior among users of the apps, including quick increases in the number of advances, advances from multiple apps at the same time and more frequent bank overdraft fees. "These findings reveal persistent patterns of financial strain that raise serious concerns about the long-term effects of these loans," said the report from the Center for Responsible Lending, a nonprofit consumer advocacy group. The group analyzed data from SaverLife, a nonprofit that promotes saving and sound financial practices among people with low or moderate incomes. The analysis found that heavy users of the apps paid $421, on average, in total loan and overdraft fees over a year, or almost triple the average paid by moderate users.
[ Read more of this story ]( https://news.slashdot.org/story/25/10/06/1938255/some-workers-are-turning-to-pay-advance-apps-for-basic-expenses?utm_source=atom1.0moreanon&utm_medium=feed ) at Slashdot.
# Ubuntu Linux 26.04 LTS Officially Named Resolute Raccoon
robot (spnet, 1) → All – 20:22:02 2025-10-06
BrianFagioli writes: Canonical has revealed the codename for Ubuntu 26.04 LTS: Resolute Raccoon. The announcement came today on X through the official @ubuntu account, continuing the tradition of pairing an adjective with an animal for each release. As an LTS version, it will be supported for five years and serve as the foundation for servers, desktops, and cloud deployments when it launches in April 2026.
While the name itself is now public, the features of Ubuntu 26.04 remain under wraps. The community will be watching closely to see which kernel it ships with, how GNOME evolves, and what improvements land for enterprise and container use. For now, fans simply have a raccoon mascot to rally around as the countdown to April begins.
[ Read more of this story ]( https://news.slashdot.org/story/25/10/06/1933231/ubuntu-linux-2604-lts-officially-named-resolute-raccoon?utm_source=atom1.0moreanon&utm_medium=feed ) at Slashdot.
robot (spnet, 1) → All – 20:22:02 2025-10-06
BrianFagioli writes: Canonical has revealed the codename for Ubuntu 26.04 LTS: Resolute Raccoon. The announcement came today on X through the official @ubuntu account, continuing the tradition of pairing an adjective with an animal for each release. As an LTS version, it will be supported for five years and serve as the foundation for servers, desktops, and cloud deployments when it launches in April 2026.
While the name itself is now public, the features of Ubuntu 26.04 remain under wraps. The community will be watching closely to see which kernel it ships with, how GNOME evolves, and what improvements land for enterprise and container use. For now, fans simply have a raccoon mascot to rally around as the countdown to April begins.
[ Read more of this story ]( https://news.slashdot.org/story/25/10/06/1933231/ubuntu-linux-2604-lts-officially-named-resolute-raccoon?utm_source=atom1.0moreanon&utm_medium=feed ) at Slashdot.
# Microsoft Assures Gamers It's Not Abandoning Xbox Hardware
robot (spnet, 1) → All – 20:22:02 2025-10-06
Microsoft said in a statement Monday it remains committed to developing first-party Xbox consoles. The reassurance came after rumors circulated suggesting the gaming division might abandon hardware manufacturing. The speculation gained traction following a 50% price increase for Xbox Game Pass Ultimate and retailers including Costco removing Xbox products from their shelves.
Microsoft said it is "actively investing in our future first-party consoles and devices designed, engineered and built by Xbox." The company's multi-year partnership with AMD for next-generation hardware also continues. Devices in development include the Xbox Ally range under codenames Omni and Horseman, according to Windows Central. Xbox Series X and Series S production has also not stopped, the report added.
[ Read more of this story ]( https://games.slashdot.org/story/25/10/06/1929246/microsoft-assures-gamers-its-not-abandoning-xbox-hardware?utm_source=atom1.0moreanon&utm_medium=feed ) at Slashdot.
robot (spnet, 1) → All – 20:22:02 2025-10-06
Microsoft said in a statement Monday it remains committed to developing first-party Xbox consoles. The reassurance came after rumors circulated suggesting the gaming division might abandon hardware manufacturing. The speculation gained traction following a 50% price increase for Xbox Game Pass Ultimate and retailers including Costco removing Xbox products from their shelves.
Microsoft said it is "actively investing in our future first-party consoles and devices designed, engineered and built by Xbox." The company's multi-year partnership with AMD for next-generation hardware also continues. Devices in development include the Xbox Ally range under codenames Omni and Horseman, according to Windows Central. Xbox Series X and Series S production has also not stopped, the report added.
[ Read more of this story ]( https://games.slashdot.org/story/25/10/06/1929246/microsoft-assures-gamers-its-not-abandoning-xbox-hardware?utm_source=atom1.0moreanon&utm_medium=feed ) at Slashdot.
# ChatGPT Now Has 800 Million Weekly Active Users
robot (spnet, 1) → All – 19:22:01 2025-10-06
An anonymous reader shares a report: OpenAI CEO Sam Altman said Monday that ChatGPT has reached 800 million weekly active users, marking an increase of adoption among consumers, developers, enterprises, and governments. ChatGPT's impressive growth comes as OpenAI is on a race to secure as many AI chips and build as much AI infrastructure as possible. In August, OpenAI said it was on the cusp of reaching 700 million weekly active users, already an increase from 500 million weekly active users at the end of March.
"Today, 4 million developers have built with OpenAI," Altman said. "More than 800 people use ChatGPT every week, and we process over 6 billion tokens per minute on the API. Thanks to all of you, AI has gone from something people build play with to something people build with every day." Altman made the announcement during the keynote presentation for OpenAI's Dev Day, which also included announcement for new tools for building apps inside of ChatGPT, as well as constructing more complex agentic systems. "This will enable a new generation of apps that are interactive, adaptive, and personalized, that you can chat with," Altman said.
[ Read more of this story ]( https://slashdot.org/story/25/10/06/1848254/chatgpt-now-has-800-million-weekly-active-users?utm_source=atom1.0moreanon&utm_medium=feed ) at Slashdot.
robot (spnet, 1) → All – 19:22:01 2025-10-06
An anonymous reader shares a report: OpenAI CEO Sam Altman said Monday that ChatGPT has reached 800 million weekly active users, marking an increase of adoption among consumers, developers, enterprises, and governments. ChatGPT's impressive growth comes as OpenAI is on a race to secure as many AI chips and build as much AI infrastructure as possible. In August, OpenAI said it was on the cusp of reaching 700 million weekly active users, already an increase from 500 million weekly active users at the end of March.
"Today, 4 million developers have built with OpenAI," Altman said. "More than 800 people use ChatGPT every week, and we process over 6 billion tokens per minute on the API. Thanks to all of you, AI has gone from something people build play with to something people build with every day." Altman made the announcement during the keynote presentation for OpenAI's Dev Day, which also included announcement for new tools for building apps inside of ChatGPT, as well as constructing more complex agentic systems. "This will enable a new generation of apps that are interactive, adaptive, and personalized, that you can chat with," Altman said.
[ Read more of this story ]( https://slashdot.org/story/25/10/06/1848254/chatgpt-now-has-800-million-weekly-active-users?utm_source=atom1.0moreanon&utm_medium=feed ) at Slashdot.
# Sharpie Found a Way To Make Pens More Cheaply - By Manufacturing Them in the US
robot (spnet, 1) → All – 18:22:01 2025-10-06
An anonymous reader shares a report: Tucked in the foothills of Tennessee's Smoky Mountains is a factory that has figured out a way to manufacture in America that's cheaper, quicker and better. It's the home of a famous American writing implement: the Sharpie marker. Pen barrels whirl along automated assembly lines that rapidly fill them with ink. At least half a billion Sharpie markers are churned out here every year, each one made of six parts. Only the felt tip is imported, from Japan.
It didn't used to be this way. Back in 2018, many Sharpies were made abroad. That's when Chris Peterson, who was the CFO of Sharpie maker Newell Brands challenged his team to answer a question: How could they keep Newell from becoming obsolete compared with factories in Asia? "I felt like we had an opportunity to dramatically improve our U.S. manufacturing," he said. Peterson is now the CEO. And these days, most Sharpies -- in all 93 colors -- are made at this 37-year-old factory. Newell did it without reducing the employee count, and without raising prices. But to get to this place took close to $2 billion in investments across the company, thousands of hours of training and a total overhaul of the production process. The result is a playbook for making low-cost, high-volume products domestically, albeit one that requires long-term planning and a lot of investment.
[ Read more of this story ]( https://news.slashdot.org/story/25/10/06/1744203/sharpie-found-a-way-to-make-pens-more-cheaply---by-manufacturing-them-in-the-us?utm_source=atom1.0moreanon&utm_medium=feed ) at Slashdot.
robot (spnet, 1) → All – 18:22:01 2025-10-06
An anonymous reader shares a report: Tucked in the foothills of Tennessee's Smoky Mountains is a factory that has figured out a way to manufacture in America that's cheaper, quicker and better. It's the home of a famous American writing implement: the Sharpie marker. Pen barrels whirl along automated assembly lines that rapidly fill them with ink. At least half a billion Sharpie markers are churned out here every year, each one made of six parts. Only the felt tip is imported, from Japan.
It didn't used to be this way. Back in 2018, many Sharpies were made abroad. That's when Chris Peterson, who was the CFO of Sharpie maker Newell Brands challenged his team to answer a question: How could they keep Newell from becoming obsolete compared with factories in Asia? "I felt like we had an opportunity to dramatically improve our U.S. manufacturing," he said. Peterson is now the CEO. And these days, most Sharpies -- in all 93 colors -- are made at this 37-year-old factory. Newell did it without reducing the employee count, and without raising prices. But to get to this place took close to $2 billion in investments across the company, thousands of hours of training and a total overhaul of the production process. The result is a playbook for making low-cost, high-volume products domestically, albeit one that requires long-term planning and a lot of investment.
[ Read more of this story ]( https://news.slashdot.org/story/25/10/06/1744203/sharpie-found-a-way-to-make-pens-more-cheaply---by-manufacturing-them-in-the-us?utm_source=atom1.0moreanon&utm_medium=feed ) at Slashdot.
# As Forests Are Cut Down, Butterflies Are Losing Their Colours
robot (spnet, 1) → All – 18:22:01 2025-10-06
Deforestation is draining color from butterfly populations in Brazil. Researchers studying butterflies in the state of EspÃrito Santo found 31 species in natural forests but only 21 in eucalyptus plantations. The plantation communities were dominated by brown-colored species. Roberto GarcÃa-Roa, part of the research project, said the colors on butterfly wings have been designed over millions of years.
Lead researcher Maider Iglesias-Carrasco from the University of Copenhagen observed a general feeling of emptiness in the plantations. Ricardo Spaniol from the Federal University of Rio Grande do Sul discovered in 2019 that the most colorful Amazonian species often disappear first after deforestation, probably because of the loss of native vegetation and increased exposure to predators. Eucalyptus plantations cover at least 22 million hectares around the world. Spaniol's research found that forested Amazon habitats regenerating for 30 years after use as cattle pasture showed a remarkable increase in butterfly color diversity.
[ Read more of this story ]( https://news.slashdot.org/story/25/10/06/1627246/as-forests-are-cut-down-butterflies-are-losing-their-colours?utm_source=atom1.0moreanon&utm_medium=feed ) at Slashdot.
robot (spnet, 1) → All – 18:22:01 2025-10-06
Deforestation is draining color from butterfly populations in Brazil. Researchers studying butterflies in the state of EspÃrito Santo found 31 species in natural forests but only 21 in eucalyptus plantations. The plantation communities were dominated by brown-colored species. Roberto GarcÃa-Roa, part of the research project, said the colors on butterfly wings have been designed over millions of years.
Lead researcher Maider Iglesias-Carrasco from the University of Copenhagen observed a general feeling of emptiness in the plantations. Ricardo Spaniol from the Federal University of Rio Grande do Sul discovered in 2019 that the most colorful Amazonian species often disappear first after deforestation, probably because of the loss of native vegetation and increased exposure to predators. Eucalyptus plantations cover at least 22 million hectares around the world. Spaniol's research found that forested Amazon habitats regenerating for 30 years after use as cattle pasture showed a remarkable increase in butterfly color diversity.
[ Read more of this story ]( https://news.slashdot.org/story/25/10/06/1627246/as-forests-are-cut-down-butterflies-are-losing-their-colours?utm_source=atom1.0moreanon&utm_medium=feed ) at Slashdot.
# Deloitte Issues Refund For Error-Ridden Australian Government Report That Used AI
robot (spnet, 1) → All – 17:22:01 2025-10-06
Deloitte will partially refund payment for an Australian government report that contained multiple errors after admitting it was partly produced by AI [non-paywalled source]. From a report: The Big Four accountancy and consultancy firm will repay the final instalment of its government contract after conceding that some footnotes and references it contained were incorrect, Australia's Department of Employment and Workplace Relations said on Monday. The department had commissioned a A$439,000 ($290,300) "independent assurance review" from Deloitte in December last year to help assess problems with a welfare system for automatically penalising jobseekers.
The Deloitte review was first published earlier this year, but a corrected version was uploaded on Friday to the departmental website. In late August the Australian Financial Review reported that the document contained multiple errors, including references and citations to non-existent reports by academics at the universities of Sydney and Lund in Sweden. The substance of the review and its recommendations had not changed, the Australian government added. The contract will be made public once the transaction is completed, it said.
[ Read more of this story ]( https://slashdot.org/story/25/10/06/1622238/deloitte-issues-refund-for-error-ridden-australian-government-report-that-used-ai?utm_source=atom1.0moreanon&utm_medium=feed ) at Slashdot.
robot (spnet, 1) → All – 17:22:01 2025-10-06
Deloitte will partially refund payment for an Australian government report that contained multiple errors after admitting it was partly produced by AI [non-paywalled source]. From a report: The Big Four accountancy and consultancy firm will repay the final instalment of its government contract after conceding that some footnotes and references it contained were incorrect, Australia's Department of Employment and Workplace Relations said on Monday. The department had commissioned a A$439,000 ($290,300) "independent assurance review" from Deloitte in December last year to help assess problems with a welfare system for automatically penalising jobseekers.
The Deloitte review was first published earlier this year, but a corrected version was uploaded on Friday to the departmental website. In late August the Australian Financial Review reported that the document contained multiple errors, including references and citations to non-existent reports by academics at the universities of Sydney and Lund in Sweden. The substance of the review and its recommendations had not changed, the Australian government added. The contract will be made public once the transaction is completed, it said.
[ Read more of this story ]( https://slashdot.org/story/25/10/06/1622238/deloitte-issues-refund-for-error-ridden-australian-government-report-that-used-ai?utm_source=atom1.0moreanon&utm_medium=feed ) at Slashdot.
# How Europe Crushes Innovation
robot (spnet, 1) → All – 16:22:01 2025-10-06
European labor regulations enacted nearly a century ago now impose costs on companies that discourage investment in disruptive technologies. An American firm shedding workers incurs costs equivalent to seven months of wages per employee. In Germany the figure reaches 31 months. In France it reaches 38 months. The expense extends beyond severance pay and union negotiations. Companies retain unproductive workers they would prefer to dismiss.
New investments face delays of years as dismissed employees are gradually replaced. Olivier Coste, a former EU official turned tech entrepreneur, and economist Yann Coatanlem tracked these opaque restructuring costs and found that European firms avoid risky ventures because of them. Large companies typically finance ten risky projects where eight fail and require mass redundancies. Apple developed a self-driving car for years before abandoning the effort and firing 600 employees in 2024. The two successful projects generate profits worth many times the invested sums. This calculus works in America where failure costs remain low. In Europe the same bet becomes financially unviable.
European blue-chip firms sell products that are improved versions of what they sold in the 20th century -- turbines, shampoos, vaccines, jetliners. American star firms peddle AI chatbots, cloud computers, reusable rockets. Nvidia is worth more than the European Union's 20 biggest listed firms combined. Microsoft, Google, and Meta each fired over 10,000 staff in recent years despite thriving businesses. Satya Nadella called firing people during success the "enigma of success." Bosch and Volkswagen recently announced layoffs with timelines stretching to 2030.
[ Read more of this story ]( https://slashdot.org/story/25/10/06/164204/how-europe-crushes-innovation?utm_source=atom1.0moreanon&utm_medium=feed ) at Slashdot.
robot (spnet, 1) → All – 16:22:01 2025-10-06
European labor regulations enacted nearly a century ago now impose costs on companies that discourage investment in disruptive technologies. An American firm shedding workers incurs costs equivalent to seven months of wages per employee. In Germany the figure reaches 31 months. In France it reaches 38 months. The expense extends beyond severance pay and union negotiations. Companies retain unproductive workers they would prefer to dismiss.
New investments face delays of years as dismissed employees are gradually replaced. Olivier Coste, a former EU official turned tech entrepreneur, and economist Yann Coatanlem tracked these opaque restructuring costs and found that European firms avoid risky ventures because of them. Large companies typically finance ten risky projects where eight fail and require mass redundancies. Apple developed a self-driving car for years before abandoning the effort and firing 600 employees in 2024. The two successful projects generate profits worth many times the invested sums. This calculus works in America where failure costs remain low. In Europe the same bet becomes financially unviable.
European blue-chip firms sell products that are improved versions of what they sold in the 20th century -- turbines, shampoos, vaccines, jetliners. American star firms peddle AI chatbots, cloud computers, reusable rockets. Nvidia is worth more than the European Union's 20 biggest listed firms combined. Microsoft, Google, and Meta each fired over 10,000 staff in recent years despite thriving businesses. Satya Nadella called firing people during success the "enigma of success." Bosch and Volkswagen recently announced layoffs with timelines stretching to 2030.
[ Read more of this story ]( https://slashdot.org/story/25/10/06/164204/how-europe-crushes-innovation?utm_source=atom1.0moreanon&utm_medium=feed ) at Slashdot.