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Submission + - NASA Needs Your Help Building A VR Mars Simulator (vrscout.com)

Submitted by Iamthecheese
Iamthecheese writes: The Mars XR Operations Support System is a virtual environment making use of Unreal Engine 5. There is a $70,000 prize to be split between 20 contestants. It will be awarded to those with the best assets and scenarios.

There are five (5) different categories to participate in, with particular scenarios to explore in each category:

-Set Up Camp
-Scientific Research
-Maintenance
-Exploration
-Blow Our Minds

I'm guessing little green men will feature heavily in submissions. In any case it's not just a chance to earn money, but prove oneself to potential employers. Prize and contest information here.

Submission + - Police Pension Fund Sues Musk to Block Twitter Buyout (aljazeera.com)

Submitted by thomst
thomst writes: Al Jazzeera is reporting that the Orlando Police Pension Fund is suing to block Elon Musk's buyout of Twitter. The pension fund's suit — filed Thursday in Delaware's Chancery Court — contends that, since he already owns 10% of Twitter's stock, Musk is an "interested shareholder" under Delaware's corporate governance laws. Because he has enlisted the backing of Twitter founder Jack Dorsey and other shareholders with significant existing stakes in the company, Musk's offer must either attract support from at least 66 2/3% of Twitter's existing investors (not counting his own stake), or be delayed by three years before taking effect.

That would be a deal-killer, for a number of reasons, including the stock's volatility, and the real possibility that Congress witl impose onerous regulations on large social media companies in the meantime.

The case is Orlando Police Pension Fund v. Twitter Inc, No. 2022-0396, Delaware Chancery Court.

Submission + - Square Enix sells all of its Western game studios—and their games—to (arstechnica.com)

Submitted by Hmmmmmm
Hmmmmmm writes: On Monday, Japanese game publisher Square Enix confirmed that it was selling all three of its Western video game studios, along with many significant game series and intellectual property attached to those studios, to the European game publisher Embracer.

The sale includes game studios Crystal Dynamics, Eidos Montreal, and Square Enix Montreal. All three had previously been wholly owned by Square Enix, and Embracer will acquire their entire staffs, combined at roughly 1,100 people, along with popular IP such as Tomb Raider, Deus Ex, and Legacy of Kain, and a game-publishing catalog of "over 50 games," for $300 million.

Not all of the deal's IP has been confirmed thus far, however, and an announcement from Square Enix indicates that its Western operations "will continue to publish franchises such as Just Cause, Outriders, and Life Is Strange." This suggests that Square Enix will retain some of its Western-specific IP and that its future collaborations with Western game makers will come via publishing deals with outside developers.

Submission + - Hacking Russia was off-limits. The Ukraine war made it a free-for-all (washingtonpost.com) 1

Submitted by SpzToid
SpzToid writes: Experts anticipated a Moscow-led cyber-assault; instead, unprecedented attacks by hacktivists and criminals have wreaked havoc in Russia

For more than a decade, U.S. cybersecurity experts have warned about Russian hacking that increasingly uses the labor power of financially motivated criminal gangs to achieve political goals, such as strategically leaking campaign emails.

Prolific ransomware groups in the last year and a half have shut down pandemic-battered hospitals, the key fuel conduit Colonial Pipeline and schools; published sensitive documents from corporate victims; and, in one case, pledged to step up attacks on American infrastructure if Russian technology was hobbled in retribution for the invasion of Ukraine.

Yet the third month of war finds Russia, not the United States, struggling under an unprecedented hacking wave that entwines government activity, political voluntarism and criminal action.

Digital assailants have plundered the country’s personal financial data, defaced websites and handed decades of government emails to anti-secrecy activists abroad. One recent survey showed more passwords and other sensitive data from Russia were dumped onto the open Web in March than information from any other country.

The published documents include a cache from a regional office of media regulator Roskomnadzor that revealed the topics its analysts were most concerned about on social media — including antimilitarism and drug legalization — and that it was filing reports to the FSB federal intelligence service, which has been arresting some who complain about government policies.

A separate hoard from VGTRK, or All-Russia State Television and Radio Broadcasting Co., exposed 20 years of emails from the state-owned media chain and is “a big one” in expected impact, said a researcher at cybersecurity firm Recorded Future who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss his work on dangerous hacking circles.

Submission + - Bill Aims to Increase K-12 CS Education, 'Particularly' for Non-Asian/White Boys 1

Submitted by theodp
theodp writes: The America Competes Act of 2022, Congress.gov explains, "includes initiatives related to elementary and secondary education, including those to increase computer science education." As such, it's no surprise to see that the Bill enjoys support from Amazon and Microsoft (letter to Congress), who are members of a consortium that aims to expand K-12 CS education with an Amazon-bankrolled curriculum. What is surprising is the wording of the Bill, which is not 'particularly' welcoming to certain Asian and White boys in its discussion of goals and funding.

From Sec. 6112. Improving access to elementary and secondary computer science education: "The purpose of this section is to improve the United States' global competitiveness by improving access to computer science education and computational thinking skills for students enrolled in elementary schools and secondary schools operated by local educational agencies, particularly for students facing systemic barriers. The term 'students facing systemic barriers' means students who are underrepresented in the computer science field, including through enrollment in computer science education courses in elementary and secondary education, enrollment and completion of computer science associates', bachelors', and graduate degrees, and participation in computer science careers, which includes female students, students from families with low incomes, Black and Latino students, Native American and Alaskan Native students, Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islander students, students with disabilities, English learners, students in rural areas, migrant students, students experiencing homelessness, and children and youth in foster care."

The term 'students facing systemic barriers' is used seventeen times in the discussion of K-12 CS education access and funding in Sec. 6112, often preceded by the adverbs 'particularly' or 'especially'. So, could Asian and White boys — starting as young as 5-years-old — wind up paying a price for tech's lack of diversity?

Comment Re:I am confused (Score 1) 28

by buravirgil (#62492282) Attached to: Alibaba Cloud Gets More of Android Working On RISC-V Silicon
In a 12 by 12 multiplication table, how many distinct values are there? A 10 by 10?

I pose the question to you because Feynman's book was an influence. (The answers are not 72 & 50.)
I was once curious as to how many "facts" students were required to memorize and what facility it made for reducing fractions and dealing with proportions.I did not accept the assertion to memorize a smaller table was a meaningful execution of teaching concepts and was likely a lazy and symbolic execution of a good idea.

While true that memorization is too highly emphasized in the middle-east and Asia, (study of religious texts and civil engineering practices, respectively) I was dismayed to see trends in western education insist memorization wasn't a component of scholastic strategy and discipline. The challenge is to fine meaningful balances.

Comment From Snapchat's IPO (Score 1) 28

Snap put it this way in its IPO documents: “In the way that the flashing cursor became the starting point for most products on desktop computers, we believe that the camera screen will be the starting point for most products on smartphones.”

All Spiegal is saying: Our vaporware is still as relevant as theirs.

Submission + - Twitter Is Protecting Its Source Code From Disgruntled Employees, Reports Say (techcrunch.com)

Submitted by Anonymous Coward
An anonymous reader writes: Twitter locked down its source code to prevent unauthorized changes, sources familiar with the matter told Bloomberg. The reports say that this change was made to prevent employees from “going rogue” and sabotaging the platform after Elon Musk’s $44 billion purchase of the company. Currently, a vice president must approve any changes.

After the company announced it would accept Musk’s offer to buy the publicly traded platform, it wasn’t immediately clear to Twitter’s 7,000 employees how their day-to-day would change. Even after a company all-hands, where CEO Parag Agrawal reassured the team that no layoffs were planned “at this time,” employees were still left with questions about how they would fare in Musk’s takeover. [...] For now, Musk’s takeover bid for Twitter remains subject to shareholder and regulatory approval. But if it goes through as expected, we may witness major personnel shifts, resignations and more. A similar shake-up took place when Twitter was listed on the New York Stock Exchange for the first time. By the time the company went public, there were already 90 startups being built by former Twitter employees.

Submission + - Hackers Reportedly Target Wind-Energy Companies In Europe (pcmag.com)

Submitted by Anonymous Coward
An anonymous reader writes: European wind-energy companies have reportedly been targeted by hackers—or been affected by cyberattacks on their suppliers—since Russia invaded Ukraine in late February. The Wall Street Journal reports that Nordex SE and Deutsche Windtechnik AG have both reported cyber incidents over the last few months. A third German company, Enercon GmbH, told the Journal it was "collateral damage" when Viasat was hacked at the start of the invasion.

The severity of the hacks varies. Nordex SE had to shut down its IT systems; Deutsche Windtechnik AG couldn't remotely control about 2,000 turbines for at least a day; and Enercon GmbH lost remote access to some 5,800 turbines because of the Viasat hack. The notorious Conti ransomware gang has reportedly claimed responsibility for the March hack of Nordex SE; the Journal says that security experts are currently investigating the possibility that it was involved with the April hack of Deutsche Windtechnik AG as well.

Submission + - The University of Washington's Fuzzy CS Diversity Success Math

Submitted by theodp
theodp writes: The University of Washington's Strategic Plan for Diversity, Equity, Inclusion & Access (DEIA) relies on "a set of objective measurements that will enable us to assess our progress." So, what might those look like? Well, for Goal O.3 — Have effective pipelines for students to enter the Allen School as Ph.D. students with a focus on increasing diversity — the UW's 5-Year Strategic Plan for DEIA specifies these 'Objective Measurements': 1) Measure the percentage of women at the Ph.D. level and, by year 5, evaluate whether the percentage is at least 40%. 2) Measure the percentage of domestic Black, Hispanic, and American Indian/Alaska Native, Hawaiian/Pacific Islander Ph.D students and, by year 5, evaluate whether the percentage is at least 12% (the UW-Seattle average for Ph.D. students). 3) Measure the percentage of Ph.D. students with disabilities (measured based on DRS use) and, by year 5, evaluate whether the percentage is at least 8% (the UW-Seattle average).

But with an Allen School Incoming Ph.D. Class of only 54 students — of which 63% are International — that suggests race/ethnicity success for an incoming PhD class could be just one Black student and one Hispanic student, if my UW DEIA math is correct.

Even if it falls short, at least UW attempted to publicly quantify what their overall DEI race/ethnicity goals are, which is more than what Amazon, Apple, Facebook, Google and Microsoft have done. That the UW felt compelled to break out U.S. and International students separately in an effort to facilitate more meaningful comparisons also suggests another way that the tech giants' self-reported race/ethnicity percentages and EEO-1 raw numbers for their U.S.-based tech workforce (which presumably includes International students and other visa workers) may be misleading, as well as a possible explanation for tech's puzzling diversity trends.

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