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Waymo is launching a pilot with cities and Google's Waze to share pothole data collected by its robotaxis, giving local transportation departments a new way to find and fix road damage more quickly. "We realized, hey, once we're at scale, we can actually share this data with cities, which is something that they've asked for and something that we collect at scale," said Arielle Fleisher, Waymo's policy development and research manager. "And so we figured out a way to make that happen." The Verge reports: Waymo uses its perception hardware, including cameras and radar, as well as accelerometers and the vehicle's physical feedback system, to log every pothole its vehicles encounter. These sensors detect physical changes to the road's surface, such as tilt and movement when the vehicle encounters irregularities. Originally, Waymo knew it needed the ability to detect potholes so it could ensure that its vehicles slowed down to avoid damage or injury to the passenger. Later, the company realized this could be invaluable data for cities, too. Under the new pilot program, that data will now be made available to cities' departments of transportation through a free-to-use Waze for Cities platform, which provides access to real-time, user-generated traffic data that officials can then use to make important decisions -- such as pothole repair. The platform also allows for Waze users to validate pothole locations through their own observations, decreasing the chances that city officials will be led astray by false positives. Currently, many cities rely on a patchwork of non-emergency 311 reports and manual inspections to address their pothole problems. Waymo developed this pilot program after collecting years of feedback from city officials about the state of their highways and surface streets. The company is launching the new pilot in the San Francisco Bay Area, as well as Los Angeles, Phoenix, Austin, and Atlanta, where Waymo says it has already helped the city identify approximately 500 potholes. Fleisher said that Waymo would be open to expanding the project to other street maladies based on further feedback from officials. The company is eager to learn what other types of street condition or safety data might be valuable, she said. "We want to be responsive to cities," Fleisher said. "They are interested in safer streets and potholes are really a tough challenge for cities. So we really wanted to meet that need as part of our desire to be a good partner and to ultimately advance our goal for safer streets."

Read more of this story at Slashdot.

Finbar Sullivan, 21, was killed at the popular north London beauty spot after going to meet an undergraduate student friend on Tuesday evening.

LIVE: Follow the Daily Mail's coverage of events in the Middle East as Donald Trump is said to have issued a major ultimatum to NATO

A week-long spike in the planet's mysterious vibration is leading many to claim their sleep and dreams are being affected by the phenomenon.

Timothy Kusemi, 41, had a provisional British licence when he caused the death of Susan Whittles, 70, at a rural junction in East Yorkshire on November 24, 2023.

Patrick, 44, posted a photo of five jars of spread and honey after Montecito-based Meghan promised they were 'en route' to him on Instagram, writing it was 'worth the wait'.

Last year, the seven-time Super Bowl winner revealed that his young dog Junie was cloned from his beloved Lua, a pit bull mix who passed away two years earlier.

ACM salutes Databricks co-founder Matei Zaharia with $250K prize

The Association for Computing Machinery (ACM) has awarded its annual Prize in Computing to Matei Zaharia for his work developing open source data and analytics software, including the widely used Apache Spark analytics engine.…

Molly-Mae avoided an appearance in the new season, despite filming scenes for season one. Yet that didn't stop her being discussed by the Furys on the show.

Most people spoil their pets with treats and toys - but one parrot has gone viral after his owner took him snorkelling in a custom-built submarine.

Gemma Collins' stalker hell has intensified after they sent her 'abusive and menacing' correspondence while she was in South Africa filming I'm A Celeb All Stars. 

Barely two weeks into my tenure as editor-in-chief of glossy magazine Marie Claire, the 30-odd members of staff had already given me a nickname - 'Face The Front'.

Until I met my husband, I would return to the one-night stand again and again, hoping that each encounter might imbue me with the validation I so desperately craved.

Simon Goldhill (pictured) has 'stepped away' from teaching after complaints about his professional and sexual misconduct were upheld.

by George Whittaker

The Linux kernel development community is stepping up its security game once again. Developers, led by key maintainers like Greg Kroah-Hartman, are actively adopting new fuzzing tools to uncover bugs earlier and improve overall kernel reliability.

This move reflects a broader shift toward automated testing and AI-assisted development, as the kernel continues to grow in complexity and scale.

What Is Fuzzing and Why It Matters

Fuzzing is a software testing technique that feeds random or unexpected inputs into a program to trigger crashes or uncover vulnerabilities.

In the Linux kernel, fuzzing has become one of the most effective ways to detect:

• Memory corruption bugs
• Race conditions
• Privilege escalation flaws
• Edge-case failures in subsystems

Modern fuzzers like Syzkaller have already discovered thousands of kernel bugs over the years, making them a cornerstone of Linux security testing.

New Tools Enter the Scene

Recently, kernel maintainers have begun experimenting with new fuzzing frameworks and tooling, including a project internally referred to as “clanker”, which has already been used to identify multiple issues across different kernel subsystems.

Early testing has uncovered bugs in areas such as:

• SMB/KSMBD networking code
• USB and HID subsystems
• Filesystems like F2FS
• Wireless and device drivers

The speed at which these issues were discovered suggests that these new tools are significantly improving bug detection efficiency.

AI and Smarter Fuzzing Techniques

One of the most interesting developments is the growing role of AI and machine learning in fuzzing.

New research projects like KernelGPT use large language models to:

• Automatically generate system call sequences
• Improve test coverage
• Discover previously hidden execution paths

These techniques can enhance traditional fuzzers by making them smarter about how they explore the kernel’s behavior.

Other advancements include:

• Better crash analysis and deduplication tools (like ECHO)
• Configuration-aware fuzzing to explore deeper kernel states
• Feedback-driven fuzzing loops for improved coverage

Together, these innovations help developers focus on the most meaningful bugs rather than sifting through duplicate reports.

Why This Shift Is Happening Now

The Linux kernel is one of the most complex software projects in existence. With millions of lines of code and contributions from thousands of developers, manually catching every bug is nearly impossible.

Go to Full Article

Luke Holmes, 22, died when he fell off his vehicle while on Terling Road, Hatfield Peverel, in September last year.

One dad said if the bus service was scrapped, he would have to drive up to two and half hours a day to take his daughter to school

An anonymous reader quotes a report from the Guardian: [Five skilled workers aged 50 and older spoke] to the Guardian about how, after struggling to find work in their fields, they have turned to an emerging and growing category of work: using their expertise to train artificial intelligence models. Known as data annotation, the work involves labeling and evaluating the information used to train AI models like Open AI's ChatGPT or Google's Gemini. A doctor, for example, might review how an AI model answers medical questions to flag incorrect or unsafe responses and suggest better ones, helping the system learn how to generate more accurate and reliable responses. The ultimate goal of training is to level up AI models until they're capable of doing a job as well as a human could -- meaning they could someday replace some of these human workers. The companies behind AI training, such as Mercor, GlobalLogic, TEKsystems, micro1 and Alignerr, operate large contractor networks staffed by people like Ciriello. Their clients include tech giants like OpenAI, Google and Meta, academic researchers and industries including healthcare and finance. For experienced professionals, AI training contracts can be a side hustle -- or a temporary fallback following a layoff -- where top experts can, in some cases, earn over $180 an hour. But that's on the high end. For some older workers [...], it represents another thing entirely: a last refuge in a brutal job market that is harder to stay in, or re-enter, the older they get. For many of them, whether or not they're training their AI replacements in their professions is besides the point. They need the work now. [...] "There's just a lot of desperation out there," Johnson said. As opportunities narrow, many turn to what Joanna Lahey, a professor at Texas A&M University who studies age discrimination and labor outcomes, calls "bridge jobs" -- lower-paying, less demanding roles that help workers stay financially afloat as they approach retirement. Historically, that meant taking temp assignments, retail and fast-food work and gig roles like Uber and food delivery. Now, for skilled workers -- engineers, lawyers, nurses or designers, for example -- using their expertise for AI data training is becoming the new bridge job. "[AI] training work may be better in some ways than those earlier alternatives," Lahey told the Guardian. AI training can offer flexibility, quick income and intellectual engagement. But it's often a clear step down. Professionals in fields such as software development, medicine or finance typically earn six-figure salaries that come with benefits and paid leave, according to the US Bureau of Labor Statistics. According to online job postings, AI training gigs start at $20 an hour, with pay increasing to between $30 and $40 an hour. In some cases, AI trainers with coveted subject matter expertise can earn over $100 an hour. AI training is contract-based, though, meaning the pay and hours are unstable, and it often doesn't come with benefits.

Read more of this story at Slashdot.

The Smoke and Fire Festival is returning to Promenade Park in Maldon this summer to celebrate outdoor cooking.

Jesy Nelson has revealed that her baby twins are back at Great Ormond Street Hospital having more tests done on Thursday.