Yet again: Judge slams lawyers for ‘bogus AI-generated research’

A California judge slammed a pair of law firms for the undisclosed use of Artificial Intelligence after he received a supplemental brief with “numerous false, inaccurate, and misleading legal citations and quotations.” In a ruling submitted last week, Judge Michael Wilner imposed $31,000 in sanctions against the law firms involved, saying “no reasonably competent attorney should out-source research and writing” to AI, as pointed out by law professors Eric Goldman and Blake Reid on Bluesky.

“I read their brief, was persuaded (or at least intrigued) by the authorities that they cited, and looked up the decisions to learn more about them – only to find that they didn’t exist,” Judge Milner writes. “That’s scary. It almost led to the scarier outcome (from my perspective) of including those bogus materials in a judicial order.”

As noted in the filing, a plaintiff’s legal representative for a civil lawsuit against State Farm used AI to generate an outline for a supplemental brief. However, this outline contained “bogus AI-generated research” when it was sent to a separate law firm, K&L Gates, which added the information to a brief. “No attorney or staff member at either firm apparently cite-checked or otherwise reviewed that research before filing the brief,” Judge Milner writes.

www.theverge.com

Yet more bad decisions from Microsoft: pulling charity licenses!

The Microsoft 365 Business Premium grant will be discontinued on your next renewal on or after July 1, 2025. Your licenses will expire on August 17, 2025. We will continue to provide up to 300 granted licenses of Microsoft 365 Business Basic and discounts of up to 75 percent on many Microsoft 365 offers to nonprofits, including Microsoft 365 Business Premium.

We strongly advise transitioning your users to a different Microsoft 365 offer for nonprofits before the subscription is cancelled to avoid disruption and data loss. Learn more about what happens to your data and access when your subscription ends.

Please sign this petition: Urge Microsoft to Continue Grant Program for Nonprofits - thank you!

You've read it here before: Microsoft seems to be making all their decisions as bad decisions.

www.microsoft.com

Need to call your bank? Many can now dial 159 for safety

From MoneySavingExpert.com Consumers wanting to avoid financial fraud now have a secure and easy-to-remember phone number to contact their banks on in order to avoid painful scams. It could prove to be the safest way for many to contact their provider if they have suspicions and concerns about their accounts, or even if they're struggling to find a customer services number. 

Stop Scams UK and Global Cyber Alliance have today launched the UK-wide 159 call service, which is designed to guarantee consumers a safe route to contacting their banks.

The scheme is urging people to "stop, hang up and call 159" to check calls are for real. The idea is to help those who believe they have been contacted by scammers claiming to be their bank, or by fraudsters who encourage them to transfer money.

According to Stop Scams UK, criminal gangs stole over £470 million from individuals and small businesses last year by pretending to be a bank or other service provider, encouraging consumers to falsely make a payment or transfer money.

www.moneysavingexpert.com

Zuckerberg’s Grand Vision: Most of Your Friends Will Be AI

Mark Zuckerberg’s vision for a new digital future, artificial-intelligence friends outnumber human companions and chatbot experiences supplant therapists, ad agencies and coders. AI will play a central role in the human experience, the Facebook co-founder and CEO of Meta Platforms has said in a series of recent podcasts, interviews and public appearances.

“I think people are going to want a system that knows them well and that kind of understands them in the way that their feed algorithms do,” Zuckerberg said Tuesday during an onstage interview with Stripe co-founder and president John Collison at Stripe’s annual conference.

Zuckerberg said on a podcast last week that he thinks the average person wants to have more friends and connections with other people than they currently do—and that AI friends are a solution.

Well that's pretty sad: Zuck recons humanity & community is done - time to surrender to our AI overlords. How about NO! The likes of Meta, Microsoft, Google, Apple et al - seem to think that they should be the hub of humanity. How have we got to this place? Time to pushback and:

www.msn.com

Christian Aid Week: 11-17 May 2025. Be that change!

Meet Aurelia from Guatemala. An inspirational farmer and community leader. Aurelia and her family belong to the Indigenous Q’eqchi’ community of the Alta Verapaz region.  

The climate crisis and industrial plantations have changed Q’eqchi’ land dramatically. Gruelling heatwaves, savage storms and unpredictable seasons are ravaging farms. Industrial agriculture is taking over the last of the region’s natural resources to feed the world’s richest countries.  

Many of the vital crops that Aurelia depends on are withering and dying before her eyes.

Please donate today. Please help fund vital tools and training, so farmers like Aurelia can support their community to escape hunger. Thank you!

While we are talking Christian Aid - Have a look at this new report which shows how climate change threatens the world’s favourite fruit - Bananas.

www.christianaid.org.uk

Gigabit broadband reaches nearly 85% of UK premises

Eighty-four per cent of UK premises are able to get gigabit-capable broadband, according to new Ofcom data published today, meaning internet companies are on track to meet the UK Government’s initial target of 85% Gigabit coverage by the end of 2025.

The figures, which come from Ofcom’s Connected Nations Spring update, show that in January 27.2 million premises (84%) could access broadband with speeds of 1000 Mbit/s or more, up from 82% in July 2024.

Ofcom’s new data also shows that nearly three-quarters of premises (73% or 23.7 million) can access full-fibre broadband, which uses fibre-optic cables to deliver faster and more reliable internet connections, up from 67% last year.

Oh yeh? That's NOT what I'm seeing. I have 826 clients and a miserable number of those have FTTP. Methinks someone snout is protruding...

www.ofcom.org.uk

Throwing rubbish out of a car - and it hitting a motorcyclist!

Road safety group, IAM RoadSmart have released new data highlighting the risks posed to motorcyclists by littering car drivers.

In a survey of 600 of their biking members, the advanced motoring group found that 37% of respondents had experienced drivers throwing rubbish and cigarette butts out of their windows during rider overtakes in the last year – something the group wants to stamp out.

“Hurling litter and butts at motorcyclists is shocking and reckless,” IAM Policy and Standards Director, Nicholas Lyes said.

“Deaths and serious injuries remain a real concern for motorcyclists, but a little courtesy and additional checks go a long way to improving the safety of some of the most vulnerable on the road.”

MCN’s own research found rider interactions with littering drivers to tally with the IAM’s findings. A snap poll online found 35.7% of 129 respondents had been struck by litter thrown from a car.

I've had some close calls with cigarette butts thrown from cars, but windscreen wiper fluid overspray hitting me - oh yes! Please car drivers, show a bit of courtesy to fellow road users - & KEEP BRITIAN TIDY!

www.motorcyclenews.com

Microsoft moved the goalposts once. Will Windows 12 bring another shift?

Retired Microsoft engineer Dave Plummer has weighed in on the increasingly heated discussion regarding the impending end of Windows 10. Are Windows 11's hardware requirements all about security or just a sales ploy in disguise?

Plummer comes from the days of MS-DOS and Windows NT 4 and had a hand in Windows Activation. He also recently mused on Microsoft's move to a subscription model, regarding the latest iterations of Microsoft's operating system as more of an "adversary" than an assistant.

The controversy over Windows 11's hardware requirements is more nuanced. On one side, there is the laudable goal of securing Windows by requiring the presence of a Trusted Platform Module (TPM) 2.0 and a relatively modern CPU. On the other hand, there are many devices capable of running Windows 10 that fail Microsoft's hardware compatibility requirements, usually through a lack of TPM 2.0 and/or an older CPU.

"Microsoft," said Plummer, "has previously ended support for older operating systems. The discontinuation of support for Windows XP and later Windows 7 are prime examples. In those cases, the primary rationale was usually the increasing difficulty and cost of maintaining security and ensuring compatibility with modern software and hardware on aging platforms.

"However, the Windows 11 situation feels somewhat different. Many of the PCs excluded by the TPM and CPU requirements are not necessarily old or underpowered; they simply lack a specific relatively recent security chip or a sufficiently new processor architecture.

Although older Surface devices might not meet Microsoft's hardware requirements for Windows 11, the company announced new hardware this week in the form of a 12-inch Surface Pro and a 13-inch Surface Laptop. Both are powered by Qualcomm Snapdragon chips and, unsurprisingly, carry the Copilot+ PC label.

"This feels less like a natural progression of technology leaving older systems behind due to performance limitations, and more like a specific hardware gate being erected."

The question must also be asked – what does this mean for Windows 12? Microsoft is relentlessly promoting its Copilot+ PCs, and it's not hard to envisage a world where hardware acceleration for the company's AI becomes a prerequisite. Accessing a preview of the company's flagship Recall feature currently requires a Copilot+ PC, for example.

"If this trend continues," Plummer continued, "it's quite conceivable that future versions of Windows could impose even stricter hardware demands, potentially leaving an even larger number of currently functional PCs unable to upgrade," and so the cycle goes on...

www.theregister.com

The power of wonder

Today, almost 2000 years after Jesus lived on earth in human form, God still communicates with us in several ways—including, through the physical beauty and wonders of our planet and universe that he once spoke into existence. 

In this short video, we explore how our Creator continually demonstrates his love, faithfulness and power through everything he has made. And, as our sense of wonder grows, so will our desire to worship the King of all creation.

www.thejohn1010project.com

Reading for today: turn to Jesus - be healed

If my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and I will forgive their sin and will heal their land.

Read all of 2 Chronicles 7 at Bible Gateway

HMRC's Making Tax Digital scheme also made tax more expensive – by £300M

The UK tax authority's push to digitize services has backfired, saddling taxpayers with hundreds of millions in extra costs, according to a report by Parliament's public spending watchdog.

The Public Accounts Committee (PAC) found that Making Tax Digital (MTD), launched ten years ago, was imposed with little consultation and left businesses unaware of the administrative financial burden they'd face.

For example, after the rollout of MTD for VAT in 2022, His Majesty's Revenue & Customs (HMRC) estimated net additional costs to traders of around £300 million ($401 million) between fiscal 2020 to fiscal 2024.

Similarly, in February 2024, HMRC calculated that moving income tax self-assessment to MTD would impose more than £500 million ($668 million) in costs on taxpayers – exceeding annual savings by around £200 million ($267 million).

"There is no strong evidence to date to suggest productivity improvements or other benefits for most VAT traders following the introduction of MTD," the PAC report said.

www.theregister.com

Well that explains a lot! Microsoft states 20% - 30% of their code was written by AI

Microsoft's CEO Satya Nadella on Tuesday said that as much as 30% of the company’s code is now written by artificial intelligence.

“I’d say maybe 20%, 30% of the code that is inside of our repos today and some of our projects are probably all written by software,” Nadella said during a conversation before a live audience with Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg.

The pair of CEOs were speaking at Meta’s inaugural LlamaCon AI developer event in Menlo Park, California. Nadella added that the amount of code being written by AI at Microsoft is going up steadily. 

Nadella asked Zuckerberg how much of Meta’s code was coming from AI. Zuckerberg said he didn’t know the exact figure off the top of his head, but he said Meta is building an AI model that can in turn build future versions of the company’s Llama family of AI models.

“Our bet is sort of that in the next year probably … maybe half the development is going to be done by AI, as opposed to people, and then that will just kind of increase from there,” Zuckerberg said.

You've read it here before: Microsoft seems to be making all their decisions as bad decisions. This might just explain it...

www.cnbc.com