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Submission + - Big Pharma choose profit over ending Pandemic

Submitted by Oneflower
Oneflower writes: In "Big Pharma could supply the whole world with a COVID vaccine. They've chosen not to" pharmaceutical companies, their host countries' governments and charitable foundations come under fire for their refusal to make the vaccines available under patent-free conditions. This despite that the vaccines were developed with massive public funding: "The governments and health bodies (looking at you, Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation) that bankrolled these pharma companies with billions of dollars had a choice. They could have stipulated clearly and transparently in their contracts with these drug companies that all patents for COVID-19 are to be publicly owned and available to all. They could have — they just chose not to. "

Submission + - Werner Herzog on Asteroids, Star Wars, and the 'Obscenity' of a City on Mars (inverse.com)

Submitted by DevNull127
DevNull127 writes: 78-year-old filmmaker Werner Herzog shared some interesting thoughts before the release of his documentary on asteroids, Fireball: Visitors From Darker Worlds :

Herzog tells Inverse he's less concerned than ever that a meteorite will destroy the Earth, but that doesn't mean we shouldn't still be worried about our own extinction. "It may be 100 million years to go until then," Herzog says, before adding, "within the next thousand years, we may have done such stupid things that we are not around anymore to contemplate it...."

There's a theory that all life on Earth came from a meteorite. Do you think that's possible...?

[I]f you expand the question, it wouldn't surprise me if we found life somewhere outside of our solar system, or even within our solar system, because we share the same chemistry with the universe. We share the same physics with the universe. And we share the same history with the universe. So with trillions and trillions and trillions of stars out there, it's highly likely that somewhere there are some forms of life. Probably not as good and interesting as in movies. We can be pretty certain there are no creatures out there like in Star Wars...

Have you heard the theory that we're living inside a simulation?

Yes, but I don't buy it. Because when I kick a soccer ball from the penalty spot, I know this is for real. If the goalie saves it, oh shit, this is for real.

Submission + - Chris Krebs reputation was enhanced by Trump (lawfareblog.com)

Submitted by AlanObject
AlanObject writes: Lawfare reports on the current state of Chris Krebs, a Trump political appointee who was recently fired for contradicting misinformation being cited by the president. He made significant contributions to the security of elections in the U.S.

Submission + - Deep Frozen Arctic Microbes Are Waking Up (scientificamerican.com)

Submitted by Anonymous Coward
An anonymous reader writes: Permafrost covers 24 percent of the Earth’s land surface, and the soil constituents vary with local geology. Arctic lands offer unexplored microbial biodiversity and microbial feedbacks, including the release of carbon to the atmosphere. In some locations, hundreds of millions of years’ worth of carbon is buried. The layers may still contain ancient frozen microbes, Pleistocene megafauna and even buried smallpox victims. As the permafrost thaws with increasing rapidity, scientists’ emerging challenge is to discover and identify the microbes, bacteria and viruses that may be stirring. Some of these microbes are known to scientists. Methanogenic Archaea, for example metabolize soil carbon to release methane, a potent greenhouse gas. Other permafrost microbes (methanotrophs) consume methane. The balance between these microbes plays a critical role in determining future climate warming. Others are known but have unpredictable behavior after release...

It is clear that the warmer we make the Arctic, the weirder it will get, as temperatures at the surface become more extreme and thawing deepens. With the coalescence of microbes reawakening from the deep and surface conditions unprecedented in human history, it is challenging to assess risks accurately without improved Arctic microbial datasets. We should pay attention to both known unknowns, such as antibiotic-resistant bacteria, and unknown unknowns, including the potential risks from the resurrection of ancient and poorly described viral genomes from Arctic ice by synthetic biologists. For all of these reasons, we must come up with guidelines for future Arctic research. As travel through the region increases, the likelihood of pathogen export and import rises as well. The planetary protection guidelines that space agencies follow to prevent interplanetary contamination can provide a framework for how microbial investigation can safely continue. Biosurveillance measures must be put into place to protect communities in the Arctic and beyond. As the Arctic continues to transform, one thing is clear: as climate change warms this microbial repository during the 21st century, the full range of consequences is yet to be told.

Submission + - The US Could Soon Ban the Selling of Carrier-Locked Phones (wired.com)

Submitted by Anonymous Coward
An anonymous reader writes: In the US, a complicated combination of corporate interests and pre-smartphone era legislation has resulted in more than two decades of back and forth about the legality of phone locking. It’s looking like that battle could ramp up again next year. The transition to a Biden administration could shake up the regulatory body that governs these rules. The timing also coincides with a congressional proceeding that takes place every three years to determine what tweaks should be made to digital rights laws. 2021 could be the year of the truly unlocked phone. For some activists, it’s a glimmer of light at the end of a very long tunnel.

[H]ow could carriers be forced to provide phones that are unlocked by default? There are a couple of promising avenues, though neither are a given. The “agenda” here meaning something to be decided by a regulating body. In the UK, the regulator Ofcom made that call. The US Ofcom equivalent is the Federal Communications Commission. Under its current leadership of Trump appointee Ajit Pai, the FCC has been staunchly pro-business, passing legislation like the repeal of net neutrality at the behest of companies like AT&T. “Getting this done in an Ajit Pai FCC would be extremely difficult and very unlikely, given how friendly that FCC has been toward private companies and broadband providers,” Sheehan says. “Whether or not that could happen in a Biden administration, we don’t know. I think it would be much more possible.”

Another route would be to take the problem back to its source: Section 1201 itself. Every three years, the US Library of Congress and Copyright Office hold a rulemaking proceeding that takes public comment. It's a chance for advocates to make their case for amending Section 1201, assuming they can afford the legal fees necessitated by such an involved, drawn out process. It’s a less overtly political process, as the key decisionmakers at the two institutions don’t come and go with each presidential administration like they usually do at the FCC. These sessions have already yielded positive outcomes for fans of repairability, like an exemption that took effect in 2016 that made it legal to hack car computers and other devices. The next proceeding is currently underway. If citizens want to urge the government to amend Section 1201, the first round of comments are required to be in by December 14. Responses and additional proposals will go back and forth through the spring of 2021, until the Copyright Office ultimately decides which changes to implement. Both Sheehan and Wiens are working with other advocates to make their case for a future of unlockability.

Submission + - US Emissions To Drop 9% In 2020 (greentechmedia.com)

Submitted by Anonymous Coward
An anonymous reader writes: The U.S. economy is on track to reduce greenhouse gas emissions 9 percent in 2020 compared to 2019, BloombergNEF reported Thursday. It's a sign of the impact that COVID-19 shutdowns and the ensuing recession have had on life in the U.S. When workers stayed home and the streets emptied out, it reduced emissions from transportation, which accounted for the largest decline at 4 percent of economywide emissions. The power sector drove another 2.8 percent decline, while reduced industrial activity lowered emissions by another 1.6 percent.

The drastic reduction in planet-warming emissions did not result from concerted action on climate change, so much as an unprecedented and deadly pandemic. Without the COVID-19 crisis, the U.S. would have released just 1 percent less carbon than in 2019, BNEF estimated. The mandated cessation of activities to stop the spread of coronavirus led to the additional reduction of 8 percent. Still, the absolute numbers make 2020 the "greenest" year on record, BNEF analysts Tom Rowlands-Rees and Melina Bartels noted. "The economic disruption of 2020 has inadvertently put the U.S. back on track to meet the commitments it made under the 2016 Paris Agreement, prior to President Trump taking the country out of that pact," they wrote.

Submission + - Disney Stealing From SF Writer Alan Dean Foster 1

Submitted by wiredog
wiredog writes: Disney has developed a radical new theory of copyright:
When Disney bought Lucasfilm and Fox, they acquired the copyright licenses that enabled them to sell Alan Dean Foster's books — but not the liability, the legal obligation to actually pay him for those books. They have apparently also done this to numerous other authors.

The statement from the Science Fiction Writers of America is here. and also a Twitter thread from Cory Doctorow.

Comment Re:How about 2 hour pickup? (Score 1) 92

No you wouldn't. You already had instant pickup. All you had to do was go to the store and buy a product and walk out the door with it. It's the getting in the car and schlepping down to the store and, worse still, going in to the store and shopping part that people hate.

What's more likely is that you won't like going to the local Amazon fulfillment center and waiting to pick up your package much better. Not when you can get that new product delivered to your door the very same day.

Comment Where Will We Showroom Our Amazon Purchases? (Score 2) 92

For years, many people have been "showrooming" products at various "brick & mortar" retailers and then going online to buy them at Amazon. Now that half the retail industry is closed down, much of the blame for which can be placed on Amazon, we need someone to fill in the gap. Maybe Amazon will have to step up and operate their fulfillment centers in every town and city, maybe even open them to the public with a selection of products on display. Sort of like Costco or Sam's on steroids?

Comment Re:NTP (Score 1) 171

by Marlin Schwanke (#60206032) Attached to: Samsung Blu-Ray Players Suddenly Stop Working Worldwide

All at the same time ? Looks like a expired certificate for boot image signing. 1) Connect them to a network with fake NTP servers serving the time from last week. -or- 2) Open them up, remove whatever battery is on the main board for 15 sec, the start them without a network connection.

1) Great suggestions!
2) Anyone else getting tired of all of our toys' continued functionality being at the mercy of some corporation. Seems like they make them, sell them and forget them and do it all over again with the next model.

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