Comment Another Variant Of Concern (Score 4, Funny) 48
Thank goddess the world is spared this one!
Submission + - The woman who mastered IBM's 5,400-character Chinese typewriter (fastcompany.com)
harrymcc writes: In the 1940s, IBM tried to market a typewriter capable of handling all 5,400 Chinese characters. The catch was that using it required memorizing a 4-digit code for each character. But a young woman named Lois Lew tackled the challenge and demoed the typewriter for the company in presentations from Manhattan to Shanghai. More than 70 years later, Lew, now in her 90s, told her remarkable story to Thomas S. Mullaney for Fast Company.
Submission + - WSJ: Microsoft Decided Bill Gates Needed to Leave Board Due to Past Relationship 1
theodp writes: From a Wall Street Journal report: Microsoft Corp. board members decided that Bill Gates needed to step down from its board in 2020 as they pursued an investigation into the billionaire’s prior romantic relationship with a female Microsoft employee that was deemed inappropriate, people familiar with the matter said. Members of the board tasked with the matter hired a law firm to conduct an investigation in late 2019 after a Microsoft engineer alleged in a letter that she had a sexual relationship over years with Mr. Gates, the people said. During the probe, some board members decided it was no longer suitable for Mr. Gates to sit as a director at the software company he started and led for decades, the people said. Mr. Gates resigned before the board’s investigation was completed and before the full board could make a formal decision on the matter, another person familiar with the matter said.
"Microsoft received a concern in the latter half of 2019 that Bill Gates sought to initiate an intimate relationship with a company employee in the year 2000," a Microsoft spokesman said. "A committee of the Board reviewed the concern, aided by an outside law firm to conduct a thorough investigation. Throughout the investigation, Microsoft provided extensive support to the employee who raised the concern."
A spokeswoman for Mr. Gates said, "There was an affair almost 20 years ago which ended amicably." She said his "decision to transition off the board was in no way related to this matter. In fact, he had expressed an interest in spending more time on his philanthropy starting several years earlier."
Mr. Gates resigned from the Microsoft board on March 13, 2020, three months after he had been re-elected to his seat. In a press release filed with regulators and a post on LinkedIn, the billionaire said then he wanted to focus on his philanthropy and would continue to serve as a technical adviser to Chief Executive Satya Nadella. That same day, he also vacated his board seat at Berkshire Hathaway Inc., the conglomerate run by Mr. Gates’s friend Warren Buffett.
"Microsoft received a concern in the latter half of 2019 that Bill Gates sought to initiate an intimate relationship with a company employee in the year 2000," a Microsoft spokesman said. "A committee of the Board reviewed the concern, aided by an outside law firm to conduct a thorough investigation. Throughout the investigation, Microsoft provided extensive support to the employee who raised the concern."
A spokeswoman for Mr. Gates said, "There was an affair almost 20 years ago which ended amicably." She said his "decision to transition off the board was in no way related to this matter. In fact, he had expressed an interest in spending more time on his philanthropy starting several years earlier."
Mr. Gates resigned from the Microsoft board on March 13, 2020, three months after he had been re-elected to his seat. In a press release filed with regulators and a post on LinkedIn, the billionaire said then he wanted to focus on his philanthropy and would continue to serve as a technical adviser to Chief Executive Satya Nadella. That same day, he also vacated his board seat at Berkshire Hathaway Inc., the conglomerate run by Mr. Gates’s friend Warren Buffett.
Submission + - The first ransomware attack (cnn.com)
quonset writes: To this day no one is sure why he did it, but in 1989 a Harvard-taught evolutionary biologist named Joseph Popp mailed out 20,000 floppy discs with malware on them to people around the world. At the time he was doing research into AIDS and the discs had been sent to attendees of the World Health Organization's AIDS conference in Stockholm.
Eddy Willems was working for an insurance company in Belgium and his boss asked him to see what was on the disc.
Willems was expecting to see medical research when the disc's contents loaded. Instead he became a victim of the first act of ransomware — more than 30 years before the ransomware attack on the US Colonial Pipeline ignited a gas shortage in parts of the US last week.
A few days after inserting the disc, Willems' computer locked and a message appeared demanding that he send $189 in an envelope to a PO Box in Panama. "I didn't pay the ransom or lose any data because I figured out how to reverse the situation," he told CNN Business.
"I started to get calls from medical institutions and organizations asking how I got around it," said Willems, who is now a cybersecurity expert at G Data, which developed the world's first commercial antivirus solution in 1987. "The incident created a lot of damage back in those days. People lost a lot of work. It was not a marginal thing — it was a big thing, even then."
Eddy Willems was working for an insurance company in Belgium and his boss asked him to see what was on the disc.
Willems was expecting to see medical research when the disc's contents loaded. Instead he became a victim of the first act of ransomware — more than 30 years before the ransomware attack on the US Colonial Pipeline ignited a gas shortage in parts of the US last week.
A few days after inserting the disc, Willems' computer locked and a message appeared demanding that he send $189 in an envelope to a PO Box in Panama. "I didn't pay the ransom or lose any data because I figured out how to reverse the situation," he told CNN Business.
"I started to get calls from medical institutions and organizations asking how I got around it," said Willems, who is now a cybersecurity expert at G Data, which developed the world's first commercial antivirus solution in 1987. "The incident created a lot of damage back in those days. People lost a lot of work. It was not a marginal thing — it was a big thing, even then."
Submission + - SPAM: Breakthrough in reverse osmosis may lead to energy-efficient seawater desalinati 3
schwit1 writes: Making fresh water out of seawater usually requires huge amounts of energy. The most widespread process for desalination is called reverse osmosis, which works by flowing seawater over a membrane at high pressure to remove the minerals.
Now, Purdue University engineers have developed a variant of the process called "batch reverse osmosis," which promises better energy efficiency, longer-lasting equipment and the ability to process water of much higher salinity. It could end up a difference-maker in water security around the world.
Reverse osmosis is used in many countries; in arid places like the Middle East, more than half of the fresh drinking water supplies come from desalination facilities. But to maintain the high level of pressure required for the process—up to 70 times atmospheric pressure—a desalination plant must employ large numbers of pumps and other equipment. And that uses a lot of energy.
"About a third of the lifetime cost of a desalination plant is energy," said David Warsinger, a Purdue assistant professor of mechanical engineering. "Even small improvements to the process—a few percentage points of difference—can save hundreds of millions of dollars and help to keep CO2 out of the atmosphere."
Solution to rising sea level: drink it.
Link to Original Source
Now, Purdue University engineers have developed a variant of the process called "batch reverse osmosis," which promises better energy efficiency, longer-lasting equipment and the ability to process water of much higher salinity. It could end up a difference-maker in water security around the world.
Reverse osmosis is used in many countries; in arid places like the Middle East, more than half of the fresh drinking water supplies come from desalination facilities. But to maintain the high level of pressure required for the process—up to 70 times atmospheric pressure—a desalination plant must employ large numbers of pumps and other equipment. And that uses a lot of energy.
"About a third of the lifetime cost of a desalination plant is energy," said David Warsinger, a Purdue assistant professor of mechanical engineering. "Even small improvements to the process—a few percentage points of difference—can save hundreds of millions of dollars and help to keep CO2 out of the atmosphere."
Solution to rising sea level: drink it.
Link to Original Source
Submission + - SPAM: Study finds alarming levels of 'forever chemicals' in US mothers' breast milk 2
Hmmmmmm writes: A new study that checked American women’s breast milk for PFAS contamination detected the toxic chemical in all 50 samples tested, and at levels nearly 2,000 times higher than the level some public health advocates advise is safe for drinking water.
PFAS, or per and polyfluoroalkyl substances, are a class of about 9,000 compounds that are used to make products like food packaging, clothing and carpeting water and stain resistant. They are called “forever chemicals” because they do not naturally break down and have been found to accumulate in humans.
They are linked to cancer, birth defects, liver disease, thyroid disease, plummeting sperm counts and a range of other serious health problems.
The peer-reviewed study, published on Thursday in the Environmental Science and Technology journal, found PFAS at levels in milk ranging from 50 parts per trillion (ppt) to more than 1,850ppt.
Though researchers are concerned by the findings, newborns are difficult to study so there has not been a thorough analysis of how PFAS affect them, said Sheela Sathyanarayana, a co-author of the study and pediatrician with the University of Washington.
But she added that studies of older children and adults have linked the chemicals to hormonal disruptions and suggests PFAS harm the immune system, which could be especially problematic for infants because breast milk bolsters their immune system.
Link to Original Source
PFAS, or per and polyfluoroalkyl substances, are a class of about 9,000 compounds that are used to make products like food packaging, clothing and carpeting water and stain resistant. They are called “forever chemicals” because they do not naturally break down and have been found to accumulate in humans.
They are linked to cancer, birth defects, liver disease, thyroid disease, plummeting sperm counts and a range of other serious health problems.
The peer-reviewed study, published on Thursday in the Environmental Science and Technology journal, found PFAS at levels in milk ranging from 50 parts per trillion (ppt) to more than 1,850ppt.
Though researchers are concerned by the findings, newborns are difficult to study so there has not been a thorough analysis of how PFAS affect them, said Sheela Sathyanarayana, a co-author of the study and pediatrician with the University of Washington.
But she added that studies of older children and adults have linked the chemicals to hormonal disruptions and suggests PFAS harm the immune system, which could be especially problematic for infants because breast milk bolsters their immune system.
Link to Original Source
Submission + - Tiny, Wireless, Injectable Chips Use Ultrasound to Monitor Body Processes (columbia.edu)
sandbagger writes: Columbia Engineers develop the smallest single-chip system that is a complete functioning electronic circuit; implantable chips visible only in a microscope point the way to developing chips that can be injected into the body with a hypodermic needle to monitor medical conditions.
Sadly, one may also imagine that this technology will become a boogieman amongst the anti-science crowd.
Sadly, one may also imagine that this technology will become a boogieman amongst the anti-science crowd.
Submission + - In Wake Of Pipeline Hack, Biden Signs Executive Order On Cybersecurity (npr.org)
PolygamousRanchKid writes: President Biden signed an executive order Wednesday boosting America's cyberdefenses following a ransomware attack on a company that operates a pipeline that provides nearly half of the gasoline and jet fuel for the country's East Coast. The broad order, which the administration had been working on for months, aims to strengthen cybersecurity for federal networks and outline new security standards for commercial software used by both business and the public.
In a briefing with reporters Wednesday, a senior Biden administration official said that the order "reflects a fundamental shift in our mindset from incident response to prevention, from talking about security to doing security." The administration's goal is not only to boost federal defenses but also to use the purchasing power of the government to get those higher standards to trickle down to the private sector. The administration also wants to pilot a program like those Energy Star ratings on appliances so consumers know if software was developed securely.
It also establishes a Cybersecurity Safety Review Board to analyze incidents. It's modeled on the National Transportation Safety Board, which reviews airplane crashes and incidents with other modes of transportation.
While cyberthreats come from all over the world, the pipeline attack brought focus back to Russia, because Biden says the alleged criminal group has ties to the country. "I'm going to be meeting with President [Vladimir] Putin, and so far there is no evidence based on, from our intelligence people, that Russia is involved, although there's evidence that the actors' ransomware is in Russia," Biden has said. "They have some responsibility to deal with this."
In a briefing with reporters Wednesday, a senior Biden administration official said that the order "reflects a fundamental shift in our mindset from incident response to prevention, from talking about security to doing security." The administration's goal is not only to boost federal defenses but also to use the purchasing power of the government to get those higher standards to trickle down to the private sector. The administration also wants to pilot a program like those Energy Star ratings on appliances so consumers know if software was developed securely.
It also establishes a Cybersecurity Safety Review Board to analyze incidents. It's modeled on the National Transportation Safety Board, which reviews airplane crashes and incidents with other modes of transportation.
While cyberthreats come from all over the world, the pipeline attack brought focus back to Russia, because Biden says the alleged criminal group has ties to the country. "I'm going to be meeting with President [Vladimir] Putin, and so far there is no evidence based on, from our intelligence people, that Russia is involved, although there's evidence that the actors' ransomware is in Russia," Biden has said. "They have some responsibility to deal with this."
Submission + - Hacker group behind Colonial Pipeline attack claims it has three new victims (cnbc.com)
PolygamousRanchKid writes: The hacker group DarkSide claimed on Wednesday to have attacked three more companies, despite the global outcry over its attack on Colonial Pipeline this week, which has caused shortages of gasoline and panic buying on the East Coast of the U.S.
Over the past 24 hours, the group posted the names of three new companies on its site on the dark web, called DarkSide Leaks. The information posted to the site includes summaries of what the hackers appear to have stolen but do not appear to contain raw data. DarkSide is a criminal gang, and its claims should be treated as potentially misleading.
The posting indicates that the hacker collective is not backing down in the face of an FBI investigation and denunciations of the attack from the Biden administration. It also signals that the group intends to carry out more ransom attacks on companies, even after it posted a cryptic message earlier this week indicating regret about the impact of the Colonial Pipeline hack and pledging to introduce “moderation” to “avoid social consequences in the future.”
One of the companies is based in the United States, one is in Brazil and the third is in Scotland. None of them appear to engage in critical infrastructure. Each company appears to be small enough that a crippling hack would otherwise fly under the radar if the hackers hadn’t received worldwide notoriety by crippling gasoline supplies in the United States.
Over the past 24 hours, the group posted the names of three new companies on its site on the dark web, called DarkSide Leaks. The information posted to the site includes summaries of what the hackers appear to have stolen but do not appear to contain raw data. DarkSide is a criminal gang, and its claims should be treated as potentially misleading.
The posting indicates that the hacker collective is not backing down in the face of an FBI investigation and denunciations of the attack from the Biden administration. It also signals that the group intends to carry out more ransom attacks on companies, even after it posted a cryptic message earlier this week indicating regret about the impact of the Colonial Pipeline hack and pledging to introduce “moderation” to “avoid social consequences in the future.”
One of the companies is based in the United States, one is in Brazil and the third is in Scotland. None of them appear to engage in critical infrastructure. Each company appears to be small enough that a crippling hack would otherwise fly under the radar if the hackers hadn’t received worldwide notoriety by crippling gasoline supplies in the United States.
Submission + - Tesla Stops Accepting Bitcoin For Vehicle Purchases (cnbc.com) 1
phalse phace writes: After announcing less than 2 months ago that Tesla would start accepting Bitcoin as payment, Elon Musk tweeted that Tesla has suspended vehicle purchases using Bitcoin due to their concerns "about rapidly increasing use of fossil fuels for Bitcoin mining and transactions, especially coal, which has the worst emissions of any fuel."
Musk continues, "Cryptocurrency is a good idea on many levels and we believe it has a promising future, but this cannot come at a great cost to the environment.
Tesla will not be selling any Bitcoin and we intend to use it for transactions as soon as mining transitions to more sustainable energy. We are also looking at other cryptocurrencies that use
Musk continues, "Cryptocurrency is a good idea on many levels and we believe it has a promising future, but this cannot come at a great cost to the environment.
Tesla will not be selling any Bitcoin and we intend to use it for transactions as soon as mining transitions to more sustainable energy. We are also looking at other cryptocurrencies that use
Comment Prior art in Wales: Mosquito Mayhem (Score 1) 89
There was a similar release in Wales five years ago, although come to think of it, they weren't GM, but specially trained by their charismatic owner, who returned in 2021.
Journal Journal: Towers of Babel 19
damn_registrars:
One, Communism as written by Marx was never intended for a geographically large country or a country with a large population. He envisioned it for a country no larger than turn of the (20th) century Germany. Unfortunately it was applied in the vastly larger (on both dimensions) Russia and then similarly distorted in China. It took very little time for it to end up completely corrupted compared to what he actually wrote.
Submission + - Explained: India's Oxygen Shortage Amid the Second Wave of COVID-19 (transfin.in)
An anonymous reader writes: India’s oxygen emergency has perilously escalated in recent days.
Social media is being flooded with distress calls begging for the life-saving gas, some states are blocking cross-border transport of cylinders to save them for local use, and thousands are dying breathless in overcrowded hospitals, ad hoc treatment centres or in their own homes.
The shortage right now is acute, deadly and not likely to be resolved soon enough. And the country finds itself in this desperate position today due to the Government — both at the centre and states — having failed to plan properly...or plan at all.
What is medical oxygen? Why is India facing a severe medical oxygen shortage right now? How did we get here? And what comes next?
Social media is being flooded with distress calls begging for the life-saving gas, some states are blocking cross-border transport of cylinders to save them for local use, and thousands are dying breathless in overcrowded hospitals, ad hoc treatment centres or in their own homes.
The shortage right now is acute, deadly and not likely to be resolved soon enough. And the country finds itself in this desperate position today due to the Government — both at the centre and states — having failed to plan properly...or plan at all.
What is medical oxygen? Why is India facing a severe medical oxygen shortage right now? How did we get here? And what comes next?
Submission + - SPAM: Upcoming Lenovo ThinkPad E14 Gen 3 adopts AMD Ryzen 5000 & other new options
An anonymous reader writes: The Lenovo ThinkPad E series may not be as well known as the ThinkPad T series or as prestigious as the X1 ThinkPad laptops, but it certainly is not unpopular. That is logical, as the Lenovo laptops of the ThinkPad E series are more affordable than other ThinkPads. And they have been available with AMD CPUs for years as well.
Link to Original Source
Link to Original Source
Submission + - North Carolina to Kick $845.8M of Apple Employees' State Taxes Back to Apple 2
theodp writes: "The announcement Monday that Apple Inc. would locate its new high-tech campus in Research Triangle Park," reports The News&Observer's Tyler Dukes, "was heralded as a coup for the state, which has pursued the company and the promise of its high-paying jobs for at least three years. But that victory comes at a cost. State and local incentives for the deal could be worth nearly $1 billion to the company over the next four decades. That award, by far the largest in the state’s history, will mostly come from new Apple employees’ state income tax payments — the vast majority of which will flow right back to Apple. [...] The JDIG award approved by the state’s Economic Investment Committee Monday morning would mean $845.8 million in payments to Apple through 2061 — provided the company meets its hiring, worker-retention and investment targets. These payments are recouped from the income taxes Apple’s new employees would normally pay to the state. Starting in 2023, the state will start issuing payments to Apple worth a little more than half of those employees’ annual tax payments. In 2032, if all goes as planned, that percentage increases to 90%."
Apple, whose market cap on Monday was $2.26 trillion, isn't exactly hurting for money. In February, Investopedia reported that Apple was sitting on $36 billion of cash and $160 billion of marketable securities but was selling $14 billion of bonds to continue taking advantage of historically low borrowing rates. The bonds were sold with coupons between 0.7% (for the 5-year note) and 2.8% (for the 40-year bond). Unlike the 7.595% fixed Federal PLUS Student Loan interest you may be paying for the next 30 years, Investopedia notes that the 0.7%-2.8% interest expenses Apple incurs on its bond proceeds — which may be used to fund Apple share repurchases and dividends — are fully tax deductible. Last year, Apple borrowed $8.5 billion in May and another $5.5 billion in August, joining the roster of U.S. investment-grade companies borrowing a record amount of debt in the corporate bond market during the pandemic.
Apple, whose market cap on Monday was $2.26 trillion, isn't exactly hurting for money. In February, Investopedia reported that Apple was sitting on $36 billion of cash and $160 billion of marketable securities but was selling $14 billion of bonds to continue taking advantage of historically low borrowing rates. The bonds were sold with coupons between 0.7% (for the 5-year note) and 2.8% (for the 40-year bond). Unlike the 7.595% fixed Federal PLUS Student Loan interest you may be paying for the next 30 years, Investopedia notes that the 0.7%-2.8% interest expenses Apple incurs on its bond proceeds — which may be used to fund Apple share repurchases and dividends — are fully tax deductible. Last year, Apple borrowed $8.5 billion in May and another $5.5 billion in August, joining the roster of U.S. investment-grade companies borrowing a record amount of debt in the corporate bond market during the pandemic.
