ToTheStars - Slashdot User

Submission + - Biden proposes zero carbon energy generation by 2035 (nytimes.com)

Submitted by DogDude on Tuesday July 14, 2020 @02:29PM

DogDude writes: "One major element of the announcement will include charting a path to zero carbon pollution from the U.S. electricity sector by 2035. According to the Energy Information Association, coal and natural gas still account for more than 60 percent of the sector."

"Campaign officials said they expect to achieve the goal by encouraging the installation of “millions of new solar panels and tens of thousands of wind turbines,” but also keeping in place existing nuclear energy plants. The plan also will call for investing in carbon capture and storage technology for natural gas."

Submission + - China Sanction Lockheed Martin over Arms Sales to Taiwan (cnn.com)

Submitted by hackingbear on Tuesday July 14, 2020 @01:02PM

hackingbear writes: China said on Tuesday it would place sanctions on Lockheed Martin for its involvement in arms sales to Taiwan, a move that could further escalate tensions between Beijing and Washington. Taiwan, an island broke off from mainland China after the Republic of China government lost in a protracted civil war, has spent billions of dollars on advanced American military hardware since the US dumped the island and established formal diplomatic relation with the People's Republic in 1978 in a quasi-partnership to fight the Cold War. The US State Department last week approved a request by Taiwan to upgrade its Patriot Surface-to-Air missiles at an estimated cost of $620 million, according to Taiwan's government-run Central News Agency. In response, China is imposing "sanctions on the main contractor of this arms sale, Lockheed Martin," Chinese foreign ministry spokesman Zhao Lijian said, without going into detail. The United States should "stop selling arms to Taiwan and cut its military ties to Taiwan, so it won't do further harm to bilateral relations between China and the United States," he added. It is also considered a tit-for-tat response against the US sanctions on Chinese firms Huawei and ZTE for their alleged business deals with Iran, a long-time arch rival of the US and Israel. It is not clear what kind of impact, if any, China’s action would have on Lockheed Martin. Some analysts have estimated that China represents 2 percent of the company’s revenue. Lockheed Martin subsidiary Sikorsky is involved in a joint venture called Shanghai Sikorsky Aircraft Co, a civilian helicopter company.

Submission + - How Remote Work Could Destroy Silicon Valley (medium.com)

Submitted by schwit1 on Tuesday July 14, 2020 @10:41AM

schwit1 writes: “The tech industry is built on serendipity. If workers flee the Bay Area, what’s left?”

More importantly, the Bay Area is the cash cow that keeps Sacramento afloat. Take those revenues away, and what’s left?

Journal Journal: Mind puzzle - how to send a stealthed byte.

Journal by xonen on Monday July 13, 2020 @07:40AM

As programmer, sometimes i like to bother myself with a theoretical question without the urge to implement it. Here's one.

How to leak some bits, let's say one byte, of information from a custom application without any networking capabilities to a fictive attacker-controlled server. Solutions for any (windows/linux/*) platform acceptable. Bonus points for steganography as in: staying as unnoticeable as possible.

Journal Journal: NBC show "The Blacklist": what will they do about the name? 2

Journal by Rick Schumann on Sunday July 12, 2020 @04:19AM

This just occurred to me. The show is done for the season, but when it comes back, with this movement towards a politically-correct avoidance of terminology like 'whitelist' and 'blacklist', are they going to have to change the name of the show?

Journal Journal: 'Vaccine Nationalism'

Journal by Rick Schumann on Friday July 10, 2020 @01:56PM

Read the story: https://www.cnbc.com/2020/07/10/coronavirus-vaccine-arms-race-may-harm-public-health-and-the-economy.html
Basically: turning creating a coronavirus vaccine into an 'arms race', countries jockeying for, gaming the system for, the vaccine.

Journal Journal: COVID Research Dumping Ground 1

Journal by Thelasko on Wednesday July 08, 2020 @06:00PM

Slashdot is full of very smart people. I'm sure most have been reading up on all of the latest research on COVID-19. What interesting information have you found?

Submission + - China's Great Firewall Descends On Hong Kong Internet Users (theguardian.com)

Submitted by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday July 08, 2020 @04:49PM

An anonymous reader writes: At midnight on Tuesday, the Great Firewall of China, the vast apparatus that limits the country’s internet, appeared to descend on Hong Kong. Unveiling expanded police powers as part of a contentious new national security law, the Hong Kong government enabled police to censor online speech and force internet service providers to hand over user information and shut down platforms. Many residents, already anxious since the law took effect last week, rushed to erase their digital footprint of any signs of dissent or support for the last year of protests. Charles Mok, a pro-democracy lawmaker who represents the technology sector, tweeted: “We are already behind the de facto firewall.”

“The law seems to be building up the Great Firewall locally in Hong Kong. Personal freedom on the internet will be eliminated,” said Charles Low, the chairman of the Hong Kong chapter of the Internet Society. “If you say something wrong they can request the service provider to give your IP address or mobile number so they can grab you.” Experts point out that China’s Great Firewall – which allows the government to inspect data as well as block IP addresses and domain names – could not be immediately replicated in Hong Kong, home to several private internet service providers and internet exchanges. “It will take at least a few years to build up the wall,” said Low, adding that what is more likely is a partial blackout, cutting off access to certain sites such as LIHKG or Telegram. “People are indeed kind of panicked and trying to install VPNs and have no idea what it can and cannot help,” said Low, noting that volunteers have been holding workshops to teach residents how to use such tools and how to better protect themselves. “I have faith in Hong Kong people. They will not forget about the freedom we once had.”

Journal Journal: Censorship is NEVER valid 11

Journal by Marxist Hacker 42 on Wednesday July 08, 2020 @03:07PM

An ethical hacker point of view of the cancel culture:

First they came for the conservatives- banning their posts and videos, canceling voices they could not stand.

Then they came for the statues and paintings and works of art- the Iconoclasm. Every hint that the past ever existed, must be destroyed.

Next they will come for the books, burning any that give a hint that any other way of life than theirs existed.

Submission + - Final Terry Pratchett Stories To Be Published In September (theguardian.com)

Submitted by sjritt00 on Tuesday July 07, 2020 @10:57AM

sjritt00 writes: The Guardian reports that a final collection of Terry Pratchett's early stories will be published in September
as The Time-travelling Caveman. These stories appeared in the Bucks Free Press and Western Daily Press in the 60s and early 70s and introduce many of the themes which later power his Discworld series.

Submission + - Security cameras can tell burglars when you're not home, study shows (cnn.com)

Submitted by schwit1 on Tuesday July 07, 2020 @10:41AM

schwit1 writes: “Researchers found they could tell if someone was in, and even what they were doing in the home, just by looking at data uploaded by the camera and without monitoring the video footage itself.”

Submission + - Billionaire-Backed Code.org Received $1-2 Million Federal PPP Loan

Submitted by theodp on Tuesday July 07, 2020 @02:11AM

theodp writes: Code.org's $10+ million "Diamond" supporters include Microsoft, Facebook, Amazon, and Infosys. Its $3+ million "Platinum" supporters include Google, the Gates Foundation, and the Ballmer Group. And its $1+ million "Gold" supporters include Jeff Bezos and Bill Gates, the world's two richest men. So, it was somewhat surprising to see the nonprofit — which is dedicated to pushing CS into K-12 classrooms — pop up on the list of Seattle-area tech companies that received a PPP loan from the federal government. According to Paycheck Protection Program data released by the SBA and Treasury, Code.org was approved on April 15th for a loan between $1-2 million to retain 81 jobs due to the pandemic. Khan Academy, another pet nonprofit of Gates and other billionaires, received approval for a $2-5 million PPP loan to retain 185 jobs.

Submission + - Slashdot is the answer to Facebook's "fake news" problem (wordpress.com)

Submitted by davecb on Sunday July 05, 2020 @09:05AM

davecb writes: OK, not the whole answer, but I argue that /. is part of a defense in depth against the propagation of lies, sophistries and deliberate disinformation in discussion groups like ours and Facebook's.

Submission + - Rhode Island Dept. of Education Adding "Two Codes" to "Three Rs"

Submitted by theodp on Friday July 03, 2020 @05:15PM

theodp writes: In 2019's The Two Codes Your Kids Need to Know, the NY Times' Thomas Friedman reported that of all the skills and knowledge it tested young people for, the College Board determined that mastering "two codes" — computer science and the U.S. Constitution — were the most correlated to success in college and in life. On Wednesday, Rhode Island announced it's teaming with the College Board to ensure schoolkids study the "Two Codes" as well as the "Three Rs".

From the press release: "The Rhode Island Department of Education (RIDE) and the College Board are launching a partnership to advance two key educational goals: understanding how the U.S. Constitution works and how technology can power solutions to problems facing our world. Two Codes is the College Board’s effort to help students build the knowledge, skills, and agency required to make a difference in the world, specifically by expanding access to Advanced Placement (AP) U.S. Government and Politics and AP Computer Science Principles. [...] Each school will identify two teacher leads, a Computer Science teacher and a Government and Politics teacher, who will coordinate their school’s participation in the program. The leads will receive a stipend of $1,500 per year, and the College Board will provide a broad range of support for the training of teachers and implementation of the effort."

In 2017, RI Governor Gina Raimondo launched the Computer Science for RI (CS4RI) effort in partnership with Microsoft and tech-bankrolled Code.org, saying "Part of turning our economy around and creating jobs is making sure every student, at every level, has access to the new basic skill: computer science." In 2018, the College Board called for making CS a high school graduation requirement, adding that it was willing to put its money where its mouth was: "The College Board is willing to invest serious resources in making this viable — much more so than is in our economic interest to do so," said College Board President David Coleman. "To governors, legislators, to others — if you will help us make this part of the life of schools, we will help fund it." And late last year, the College Board described its state-level efforts to spread AP CS Principles: "Since 2016, the College Board has partnered with Code.org, the Chan [Mark] Zuckerberg Initiative, and state departments of education to spread AP Computer Science Principles statewide [...] This work began in Kentucky and Nevada and later spread to Arizona, Maryland, and Massachusetts."

Comment Re:Shopping carts are poorly implemented (Score 1) 97

by ToTheStars on Friday July 03, 2020 @05:13PM (#60259002) Attached to: Who Is the Mystery Shopper Leaving Behind Thousands of Online Shopping Carts?

No, that wouldn’t work. Products need to be taken “off the shelf” when put in a basket and then restored when the shopping cart is abandoned, otherwise customers will add something to their basket and find it out of stock when they’re ready to pay.

Some sites I've shopped on actually do that. (Newegg.) Well, technically, the item I wanted was still in stock, but between putting it in my cart and going to check-out, Newegg proper had sold out and so they replaced it with one of their third-party sellers, who was offering it for about 30% over MSRP. I decided I didn't want this item that badly.

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