Dictionary.com 'Devastated' Paid Users By Abruptly Deleting Saved Word Lists Dictionary.com abruptly deleted all user accounts and saved word lists from its premium apps without notice or refunds, leaving long-time logophiles "devastated." "The company deleted all accounts, as well as the only ways to use Dictionary.com without seeing ads -- even if you previously paid for an ad-free experience," reports Ars Technica. From the report: Dictionary.com offers a free dictionary through its website and free Android and iOS apps. It used to offer paid-for mobile apps, called Dictionary.com Pro, that let users set up accounts, use the app without ads, and enabled other features (like grammar tips and science and rhyming dictionaries) that are gone now. Dictionary.com's premium apps also let people download an offline dictionary (its free apps used to let you buy a downloadable dictionary as a one-time purchase), but offline the dictionaries aren't available anymore. About a year ago, claims of Dictionary.com's apps being buggy surfaced online. We also found at least one person claiming that they were unable to buy an ad-free upgrade at that time. Reports of Dictionary.com accounts being deleted and the apps not working as expected, and with much of its content removed, started appearing online about two months ago. Users reported being unable to log in and access premium features, like saved words. Soon after, Dictionary.com's premium apps were removed from Google Play and Apple's App Store. The premium version was available for download for $6 as recently as March 23, per the Internet Archive's Wayback Machine. <a href="http://twitter.com/home?status=Dictionary.com+'Devastated'+Paid+Users+By+Abruptly+Deleting+Saved+Word+Lists%3A+https%3A%2F%2Ftech.slashdot.org%2Fstory%2F25%2F07%2F17%2F2329217%2F%3Futm_source%3Dtwitter%26utm_medium%3Dtwitter" rel="nofollow"><img src="https://a.fsdn.com/sd/twitter_icon_large.png"></a> <a href="http://www.facebook.com/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Ftech.slashdot.org%2Fstory%2F25%2F07%2F17%2F2329217%2Fdictionarycom-devastated-paid-users-by-abruptly-deleting-saved-word-lists%3Futm_source%3Dslashdot%26utm_medium%3Dfacebook" rel="nofollow"><img src="https://a.fsdn.com/sd/facebook_icon_large.png"></a>

Dictionary.com

Dictionary.com abruptly deleted all user accounts and saved word lists from its premium apps without notice or refunds, leaving long-time logophile...

at Slashdot.

Dictionary.com

Dictionary.com abruptly deleted all user accounts and saved word lists from its premium apps without notice or refunds, leaving long-time logophile...

As AI Kills Search Traffic, Google Launches Offerwall To Boost Publisher Revenue An anonymous reader quotes a report from TechCrunch: Google's AI search features are killing traffic to publishers, so now the company is proposing a possible solution. On Thursday, the tech giant officially launched Offerwall, a new tool that allows publishers to generate revenue beyond the more traffic-dependent options, like ads. Offerwall lets publishers give their sites' readers a variety of ways to access their content, including through options like micropayments, taking surveys, watching ads, and more. In addition, Google says that publishers can add their own options to the Offerwall, like signing up for newsletters. The new feature is available for free in Google Ad Manager after earlier tests with 1,000 publishers that spanned over a year. While no broad case studies were shared, India's Sakal Media Group implemented Google Ad Manager's Offerwall feature and saw a 20% revenue boost and up to 2 million more impressions in three months. Overall, publishers testing Offerwall experienced an average 9% revenue lift, with some seeing between 5% and 15%. <a href="http://twitter.com/home?status=As+AI+Kills+Search+Traffic%2C+Google+Launches+Offerwall+To+Boost+Publisher+Revenue%3A+https%3A%2F%2Ftech.slashdot.org%2Fstory%2F25%2F06%2F26%2F2046234%2F%3Futm_source%3Dtwitter%26utm_medium%3Dtwitter" rel="nofollow"><img src="https://a.fsdn.com/sd/twitter_icon_large.png"></a> <a href="http://www.facebook.com/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Ftech.slashdot.org%2Fstory%2F25%2F06%2F26%2F2046234%2Fas-ai-kills-search-traffic-google-launches-offerwall-to-boost-publisher-revenue%3Futm_source%3Dslashdot%26utm_medium%3Dfacebook" rel="nofollow"><img src="https://a.fsdn.com/sd/facebook_icon_large.png"></a>

As AI Kills Search Traffic, Google Launches Offerwall To Boost Publisher Revenue - Slashdot

An anonymous reader quotes a report from TechCrunch: Google

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As AI Kills Search Traffic, Google Launches Offerwall To Boost Publisher Revenue - Slashdot

An anonymous reader quotes a report from TechCrunch: Google

Microsoft Uses AI To Find Flaws In GRUB2, U-Boot, Barebox Bootloaders Slashdot reader zlives shared this report from BleepingComputer: Microsoft used its AI-powered Security Copilot to discover 20 previously unknown vulnerabilities in the GRUB2, U-Boot, and Barebox open-source bootloaders. GRUB2 (GRand Unified Bootloader) is the default boot loader for most Linux distributions, including Ubuntu, while U-Boot and Barebox are commonly used in embedded and IoT devices. Microsoft discovered eleven vulnerabilities in GRUB2, including integer and buffer overflows in filesystem parsers, command flaws, and a side-channel in cryptographic comparison. Additionally, 9 buffer overflows in parsing SquashFS, EXT4, CramFS, JFFS2, and symlinks were discovered in U-Boot and Barebox, which require physical access to exploit. The newly discovered flaws impact devices relying on UEFI Secure Boot, and if the right conditions are met, attackers can bypass security protections to execute arbitrary code on the device. While exploiting these flaws would likely need local access to devices, previous bootkit attacks like BlackLotus achieved this through malware infections. Miccrosoft titled its blog post "Analyzing open-source bootloaders: Finding vulnerabilities faster with AI." (And they do note that Micxrosoft disclosed the discovered vulnerabilities to the GRUB2, U-boot, and Barebox maintainers and "worked with the GRUB2 maintainers to contribute fixes... GRUB2 maintainers released security updates on February 18, 2025, and both the U-boot and Barebox maintainers released updates on February 19, 2025.") They add that performing their initial research, using Security Copilot "saved our team approximately a week's worth of time," Microsoft writes, "that would have otherwise been spent manually reviewing the content." Through a series of prompts, we identified and refined security issues, ultimately uncovering an exploitable integer overflow vulnerability. Copilot also assisted in finding similar patterns in other files, ensuring comprehensive coverage and validation of our findings... As AI continues to emerge as a key tool in the cybersecurity community, Microsoft emphasizes the importance of vendors and researchers maintaining their focus on information sharing. This approach ensures that AI's advantages in rapid vulnerability discovery, remediation, and accelerated security operations can effectively counter malicious actors' attempts to use AI to scale common attack tactics, techniques, and procedures (TTPs). This week Google also announced Sec-Gemini v1, "a new experimental AI model focused on advancing cybersecurity AI frontiers." <a href="http://twitter.com/home?status=Microsoft+Uses+AI+To+Find+Flaws+In+GRUB2%2C+U-Boot%2C+Barebox+Bootloaders%3A+https%3A%2F%2Fnews.slashdot.org%2Fstory%2F25%2F04%2F05%2F0250250%2F%3Futm_source%3Dtwitter%26utm_medium%3Dtwitter" rel="nofollow"><img src="https://a.fsdn.com/sd/twitter_icon_large.png"></a> <a href="http://www.facebook.com/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fnews.slashdot.org%2Fstory%2F25%2F04%2F05%2F0250250%2Fmicrosoft-uses-ai-to-find-flaws-in-grub2-u-boot-barebox-bootloaders%3Futm_source%3Dslashdot%26utm_medium%3Dfacebook" rel="nofollow"><img src="https://a.fsdn.com/sd/facebook_icon_large.png"></a>

Microsoft Uses AI To Find Flaws In GRUB2, U-Boot, Barebox Bootloaders - Slashdot

Slashdot reader zlives shared this report from BleepingComputer: Microsoft used its AI-powered Security Copilot to discover 20 previously unknown...

at Slashdot.

Microsoft Uses AI To Find Flaws In GRUB2, U-Boot, Barebox Bootloaders - Slashdot

Slashdot reader zlives shared this report from BleepingComputer: Microsoft used its AI-powered Security Copilot to discover 20 previously unknown...

YouTube Warns Creators an AI-Generated Video of Its CEO is Being Used For Phishing Scams An anonymous reader shares a report: YouTube is warning creators about a new phishing scam that attempts to lure victims using an AI-generated video of its CEO Neal Mohan. The fake video has been shared privately with users and claims YouTube is making changes to its monetization policy in an attempt to steal their credentials, according to an announcement on Tuesday. "YouTube and its employees will never attempt to contact you or share information through a private video," YouTube says. "If a video is shared privately with you claiming to be from YouTube, the video is a phishing scam." In recent weeks, there have been reports floating around Reddit about scams similar to the one described by YouTube. <a href="http://twitter.com/home?status=YouTube+Warns+Creators+an+AI-Generated+Video+of+Its+CEO+is+Being+Used+For+Phishing+Scams%3A+https%3A%2F%2Fnews.slashdot.org%2Fstory%2F25%2F03%2F04%2F220243%2F%3Futm_source%3Dtwitter%26utm_medium%3Dtwitter" rel="nofollow"><img src="https://a.fsdn.com/sd/twitter_icon_large.png"></a> <a href="http://www.facebook.com/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fnews.slashdot.org%2Fstory%2F25%2F03%2F04%2F220243%2Fyoutube-warns-creators-an-ai-generated-video-of-its-ceo-is-being-used-for-phishing-scams%3Futm_source%3Dslashdot%26utm_medium%3Dfacebook" rel="nofollow"><img src="https://a.fsdn.com/sd/facebook_icon_large.png"></a>

YouTube Warns Creators an AI-Generated Video of Its CEO is Being Used For Phishing Scams - Slashdot

An anonymous reader shares a report: YouTube is warning creators about a new phishing scam that attempts to lure victims using an AI-generated vide...

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YouTube Warns Creators an AI-Generated Video of Its CEO is Being Used For Phishing Scams - Slashdot

An anonymous reader shares a report: YouTube is warning creators about a new phishing scam that attempts to lure victims using an AI-generated vide...

Mozilla Revises Firefox's Terms of Use, Clarifies That They Don't Own Your Data "We need a license to allow us to make some of the basic functionality of Firefox possible," Mozilla explained Wednesday in a clarification a recent Terms of Use update. "Without it, we couldn't use information typed into Firefox, for example. It does NOT give us ownership of your data or a right to use it for anything other than what is described in the Privacy Notice." But Friday they went further, and revised those new Terms of Use "to more clearly reflect the limited scope of how Mozilla interacts with user data," according to a Mozilla blog post. More details from the Verge: The particular language that drew criticism was: "When you upload or input information through Firefox, you hereby grant us a nonexclusive, royalty-free, worldwide license to use that information to help you navigate, experience, and interact with online content as you indicate with your use of Firefox." That language has been removed. Now, the language in the terms says: "You give Mozilla the rights necessary to operate Firefox. This includes processing your data as we describe in the Firefox Privacy Notice. It also includes a nonexclusive, royalty-free, worldwide license for the purpose of doing as you request with the content you input in Firefox. This does not give Mozilla any ownership in that content...." Friday's post additionally provides some context about why the company has "stepped away from making blanket claims that 'We never sell your data.'" Mozilla says that "in some places, the LEGAL definition of 'sale of data' is broad and evolving," and that "the competing interpretations of do-not-sell requirements does leave many businesses uncertain about their exact obligations and whether or not they're considered to be 'selling data.'" Mozilla says that "there are a number of places where we collect and share some data with our partners" so that Firefox can be "commercially viable," but it adds that it spells those out in its privacy notice and works to strip data of potentially identifying information or share it in aggregate. <a href="http://twitter.com/home?status=Mozilla+Revises+Firefox's+Terms+of+Use%2C+Clarifies+That+They+Don't+Own+Your+Data%3A+https%3A%2F%2Fnews.slashdot.org%2Fstory%2F25%2F03%2F01%2F2111254%2F%3Futm_source%3Dtwitter%26utm_medium%3Dtwitter" rel="nofollow"><img src="https://a.fsdn.com/sd/twitter_icon_large.png"></a> <a href="http://www.facebook.com/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fnews.slashdot.org%2Fstory%2F25%2F03%2F01%2F2111254%2Fmozilla-revises-firefoxs-terms-of-use-clarifies-that-they-dont-own-your-data%3Futm_source%3Dslashdot%26utm_medium%3Dfacebook" rel="nofollow"><img src="https://a.fsdn.com/sd/facebook_icon_large.png"></a>

Mozilla Revises Firefox

&#34;We need a license to allow us to make some of the basic functionality of Firefox possible,&#34; Mozilla explained Wednesday in a clarification...

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Mozilla Revises Firefox

&#34;We need a license to allow us to make some of the basic functionality of Firefox possible,&#34; Mozilla explained Wednesday in a clarification...

Asahi Linux Lead Developer Hector Martin Resigns From Linux Kernel Asahi lead developer Hector Martin, writing in an email: I no longer have any faith left in the kernel development process or community management approach. Apple/ARM platform development will continue downstream. If I feel like sending some patches upstream in the future myself for whatever subtree I may, or I may not. Anyone who feels like fighting the upstreaming fight themselves is welcome to do so. <a href="http://twitter.com/home?status=Asahi+Linux+Lead+Developer+Hector+Martin+Resigns+From+Linux+Kernel%3A+https%3A%2F%2Flinux.slashdot.org%2Fstory%2F25%2F02%2F07%2F1332241%2F%3Futm_source%3Dtwitter%26utm_medium%3Dtwitter" rel="nofollow"><img src="https://a.fsdn.com/sd/twitter_icon_large.png"></a> <a href="http://www.facebook.com/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Flinux.slashdot.org%2Fstory%2F25%2F02%2F07%2F1332241%2Fasahi-linux-lead-developer-hector-martin-resigns-from-linux-kernel%3Futm_source%3Dslashdot%26utm_medium%3Dfacebook" rel="nofollow"><img src="https://a.fsdn.com/sd/facebook_icon_large.png"></a>

Asahi Linux Lead Developer Hector Martin Resigns From Linux Kernel - Slashdot

Asahi lead developer Hector Martin, writing in an email: I no longer have any faith left in the kernel development process or community management ...

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Asahi Linux Lead Developer Hector Martin Resigns From Linux Kernel - Slashdot

Asahi lead developer Hector Martin, writing in an email: I no longer have any faith left in the kernel development process or community management ...