nerd

23 May 2026

Slashdot

Air France, Airbus Guilty of Corporate Manslaughter In 2009 Air France 447 Crash

Long-time Slashdot reader UnknowingFool shares this report from the BBC: Air France and Airbus have been found guilty of manslaughter over a 2009 plane crash which killed 228 people. The Paris Appeals Court found the airline and aircraft manufacturer "solely and entirely responsible" for the incident, in which flight AF447 from Rio de Janeiro to Paris crashed into the Atlantic Ocean. The passenger jet stalled during a storm and plunged into the water, killing all on board. A court had previously cleared the companies in April 2023, but they were found guilty on Thursday after an eight-week trial. Both have repeatedly denied the charges and say they will appeal... The companies have been asked to pay the maximum fine - €225,000 ($261,720; £194,500) each - but some victims' families have criticised the amount as a token penalty... In 2012, French investigators found a combination of technical failure involving ice in the plane's sensors and the pilots' inability to react to the aircraft stalling led to it plunging into the sea. The captain was on a break when the co-pilots became confused by faulty air-speed readings. They then mistakenly pointed the nose of the plane upwards when it stalled, instead of down. Investigators concluded the co-pilots did not have the training to deal with the situation. Pilot training has since been improved and the speed sensors replaced.

Hacker News

It's time to talk about my writerdeck

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23 May 2026 6:45pm GMT

Slashdot

Free Software Foundation's Call for 'LibreLocals' Answered on Six Continents - With More Coming

The Free Software Foundation announced this week that "its global call for free software supporters to organize LibreLocals this May resulted in free software supporters organizing forty-six LibreLocal events on six continents thus far." (And new dates and locations are being added daily.) The FSF invited free software supporters to organize in-person community meetups in their area during May 2026, or LibreLocal month, to bring people together to swap ideas, learn from each other, and celebrate free software. People were encouraged to organize events grounded in freedom to help spread the free software philosophy.... "The success of these LibreLocals speaks to how many people globally are interested in free software and ready to build community, and it demonstrates the strength of our movement" [said FSF executive director Zoë Kooyman]. "People getting together like this also proves how computer freedom and digital rights are on people's minds. When we reject freedom-restricting software and promote software that respects user rights, it helps further so many other basic rights...." The FSF has financially supported some of the events, but notes organizers are going above and beyond to create noteworthy events by any measure, and is impressed with the global network taking shape. "The energy we feel from all organizers is extremely motivating and we look forward to seeing LibreLocal events spread even wider over the next years! We want to support these initiatives even more, so we'll be looking to build a network of sponsors for future iterations as we work towards May 2027," says Heshan de Silva-Weeramuni, FSF program manager... William Goodspeed, the organizer behind the Beijing LibreLocal, reported that their meetup was double the size of last year's, and a number of very rich collaborative projects have emerged among the attendees. Discussing the value of connecting people, de Silva-Weeramuni notes: "Free software supporters know that connecting with each other leads them to learn, experiment, and create great things that protect our individual and shared rights. The extraordinary contributions that free software has made to the world were born through such collaborations between like-minded people towards a freer society. This same global spirit of collectively building a better future is one of the inspiring things that we have once again seen unfold through this year's many LibreLocals."

Hacker News

Texas woman arrested for Facebook post about town water quality

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23 May 2026 6:02pm GMT

Slashdot

Friday Google's AI-Powered Search Results Glitched on the Word 'Disregard'

On Friday TechCrunch reported they could no longer Google the word "disregard". Google's AI Overview responded "Understood. Let me know whenever you have a new prompt or question!" below an icon for hearing the word "disregard" pronounced - then displayed several inches of blank whitespace. "The Merriam-Webster link is still in there, but you have to scroll..." Earlier this week, Google rolled out a completely new Search experience, foregrounding AI summaries and kicking the traditional "10 blue links" far down the page. But the sheer scale of Google Search means there are lots of edge cases that the company doesn't seem to have considered... Google has been catching some flack on social media for this, and it's easy to see why... For most users, that single reply is the only thing you'll see. And crucially, the AI response serves no conceivable value to a user searching the word "disregard." It's just a broken tool. Google appears to have fixed the issue - sort of. Now Googling the word "disregard" brings up a list of news stories about how Google's AI Overviews misinterpreted the word disregard in search queries.