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From analysis paralysis to a new role, see how one Googler used 3 AI tools to navigate a career lattice.From analysis paralysis to a new role, see how one Googler used 3 AI tools to navigate a career lattice.

New York state has filed a lawsuit against Valve alleging that randomized loot boxes in games like Counter-Strike 2, Team Fortress 2, and Dota 2 amount to a form of unregulated gambling, letting users "pay for the chance to win a rare virtual item of significant monetary value." From a report: While many randomized video game loot boxes have drawn attention and regulation from various government bodies in recent years, the New York suit calls out Valve's system specifically for "enabl[ing] users to sell the virtual items they have won, either through its own virtual marketplace, the Steam Community Market, or through third-party marketplaces." The vast majority of Valve's in-game loot boxes contain skins that can only be resold for a few cents, the suit notes, while the rarest skins can be worth thousands of dollars through marketplaces on and off of Steam. That fits the statutory definition of gambling as "charging an individual for a chance to win something of value based on luck alone," according to the suit. The Steam Wallet funds that users get through directly reselling skins "have the equivalent purchasing power on the Steam platform as cash," the suit notes. But if a user wants to convert those Steam funds to real cash, they can do so relatively easily by purchasing a Steam Deck and reselling it to any interested party, as an investigator did while preparing the lawsuit.

Read more of this story at Slashdot.

Meta donates React to new Linux Foundation-backed body  IT Brief Asia

Meta donates React to new Linux Foundation-backed body  IT Brief Australia

An anonymous reader shares a report: Burger King is launching an AI chatbot that will live in the headsets used by employees. The voice-enabled chatbot, called "Patty," is part of an overarching BK Assistant platform that will not only assist employees with meal preparation but also evaluate their interactions with customers for "friendliness." Thibault Roux, Burger King's chief digital officer, tells The Verge that the company compiled information from franchisees and guests on how to measure friendliness, resulting in the fast food chain training its AI system to recognize certain words and phrases, such as "welcome to Burger King," "please," and "thank you." Managers can then ask the AI assistant how their location is performing on friendliness. "This is all meant to be a coaching tool," Roux says, adding that the company is "iterating" on capturing the tone of conversations as well.

Read more of this story at Slashdot.

Nano Banana 2 (Gemini 3.1 Flash Image) delivers Pro-level intelligence and fidelity for all image applications.Nano Banana 2 (Gemini 3.1 Flash Image) delivers Pro-level intelligence and fidelity for all image applications.

Our latest image generation model offers advanced world knowledge, production-ready specs, subject consistency and more, all at Flash speed.Our latest image generation model offers advanced world knowledge, production-ready specs, subject consistency and more, all at Flash speed.

A look ahead at Google Newfront 2026, and how Gemini models bring more value for programmatic advertisers and biddable tools.

Benchmarking 18 Years Of Intel Laptop CPUs: Panther Lake As Much As 95x The Speed Of Penryn  Phoronix

Forget distro hopping: How to use any Linux distribution on one PC  How-To Geek

Tails 7.5 Anonymous Linux OS Released with Updated Tor Client and Tor Browser  9to5Linux

HBO Max will be cracking down on password sharing around the world. From a report: The streamer first started cracking down on password sharing in the United States late last August. Subscribers are now able to add an additional out-of-household account for $7.99 a month. Before that August change, Warner Bros. Discovery had been testing for months to determine who may or may not be a "legitimate user," as CEO and President for Warner Bros. Discovery Global Streaming and Games JB Perrette described the plan. On Thursday during the company's fourth quarter earnings call for 2025, WBD revealed that the streaming limitations would be expanding. This news came as part of an answer about which levers the company plans to pull to grow HBO Max. Password crackdowns have proven to be a lucrative way to both boost revenue and subscriptions. Netflix, for example, saw 9 million more subscribers after its first wave of password crackdowns in 2024. The caveat is that password crackdowns do not lead to consistent growth, and they often infuriate subscribers.

Read more of this story at Slashdot.

Fwupd 2.0.20 Firmware Updater Adds Support for HP Engage One G2 Advanced Hub  9to5Linux

Why Linux can't save you from the "Windows-first" software world  How-To Geek

ThreatsDay Bulletin: Kali Linux + Claude, Chrome Crash Traps, WinRAR Flaws, LockBit & 15+ Stories  The Hacker News

ThreatsDay Bulletin: Kali Linux + Claude, Chrome Crash Traps, WinRAR Flaws, LockBit & 15+ Stories  The Hacker News

NXP Posts New Linux Accelerator Driver For Their Neutron NPU  Phoronix

The state of Linux gaming in 2026: how close are we to 100% compatibility?  MakeUseOf

EBay is cutting about 800 jobs, or 6% of its full-time employees, saying the layoffs are needed to align its workforce with strategic priorities. From a report: "We are taking steps to reinvest across our business and align our structure with our strategic priorities, which will affect certain roles across our workforce," the San Jose, California-based company said early Thursday in a statement. "We are grateful for the contributions of the employees impacted and are committed to supporting them with care and respect." EBay will continue to hire in key areas. The cuts come a week after the company said it would acquire secondhand fashion marketplace Depop for about $1.2 billion in an effort to draw younger shoppers and after it reported robust quarterly results. Revenue increased 15% to $3 billion in the fourth quarter, surpassing analyst estimates.

Read more of this story at Slashdot.

AI-powered creatives are essential for staying relevant in today’s complex search landscape, but above all they must meet your brand standards. That’s why we’re expandin…