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Submission + - AmigaOS receives various upgrades

Submitted by Mike Bouma
Mike Bouma writes: A-EON Technology Ltd has released Enhancer Software Release 2.1 for AmigaOS4.1 FE update 2, which itself was released on 23 December 2020. It's an OS enhancement package with large amounts of updated and upgraded OS components. Also earlier this year Hyperion released AmigaOS 3.2 for all classic Amigas, here's a roundup of new features by The Guru Meditation on youtube.

Submission + - SPAM: FAA Fumbled Its Response To a Surge in GPS Jamming 2

Submitted by schwit1
schwit1 writes: In March and April this year, flight controllers at the Albuquerque Air Route Traffic Control Center filed reports on NASA's Aviation Safety Reporting System (ASRS), a forum where aviation professionals can anonymously share near misses and safety tips.

The complaints accused the FAA of denying controllers permission to ask the military to cut short GPS tests adversely affecting commercial and private aircraft. These so-called "stop buzzer" (or "cease buzzer") requests are supposed to be made by pilots only when a safety-of-flight issue is encountered.

"Aircraft are greatly affected by the GPS jamming and it's not taken seriously by management," reads one report. "We've been told we can't ask to stop jamming, and to just put everyone on headings."

In a second report, a private jet made a wrong turn into restricted airspace over the White Sands Missile Range in New Mexico after being jammed. On that occasion, the air traffic controller called a stop buzzer. "[The] facility manager on duty later informed me we can't ask them to 'stop buzzer' and to just keep putting aircraft on headings," their ASRS report reads.

Putting an aircraft on headings requires giving pilots precise bearings to follow, rather than letting them perform their own navigation using GPS or other technologies. This adds work for controllers, who are already very busy at certain times of day.

In May, the pilot of a light aircraft taking off at night in the Albuquerque area suddenly lost their GPS navigation and terrain warnings. Air traffic control told the pilot that WSMR was jamming, and instructed them to use other instruments. That pilot was ultimately able to land safely, but later submitted their own ASRS report: "Being unfamiliar with this area and possibly a different avionics configuration I feel my flight could have possibly ended as controlled flight into terrain."

Such an outcome–a likely deadly crash–would surely not meet anyone's definition of "acceptable risk."
Link to Original Source

Submission + - FSF Warns Windows 11 'Deprives Users of Freedom and Digital Autonomy' (fsf.org)

Submitted by destinyland
destinyland writes: From a new statement by the Free Software Foundation:
_______________________________________________________________________

Microsoft claims that "life's better together" in their advertising for this latest Windows version, but when it comes to technology, there is no surer way of keeping users divided and powerless than nonfree softwarechoosing to create an unjust power structure, in which a developer knowingly keeps users powerless and dependent by withholding information. Increasingly, this involves not only withholding the source code itself, but even basic information on how the software works: what it's really doing, what it's collecting, and how often it's snitching on users. "Snitching" may sound dramatic, but Windows 11 will now require a Microsoft account to be connected to every user account, granting them the ability to correlate user behavior with one's personal identity. Even those who think they have nothing to hide should be wary of sharing potentially all of their computing activity with any company, much less one with a track record of abuse like Microsoft...

We expect Microsoft to use its tighter control on cryptography that happens in Windows as a way to impose more severe Digital Restrictions Management (DRM) onto media and applications, and as a way to ensure that no application can run in Windows without Microsoft's approval. In cases like these, it's no longer appropriate to call a machine running Windows a "personal" computer, as it obeys Microsoft more than it does its user. Indeed, it's bitterly ironic that Microsoft is calling the program that verifies a system's compatibility with Windows 11 a "PC Health Check." We counter that a healthy PC is one that respects its user's wishes, runs free software, and doesn't purposefully restrict them through treacherous computing. It would also never send the user's encryption keys back to its corporate overlords. Intrepid users will likely find a way around this requirement, yet it doesn't change the fact that the majority of Windows users will be forced into a treacherous computing scheme...

Sometimes, Microsoft realizes that it can't be quite so overtly antisocial. We've commented many times before on the hypocrisy involved in saying that Microsoft "loves open source" and "loves Linux," two ways of mentioning free software without reference to freedom. At the same time, Microsoft employees do make contributions to free software, contributions which benefit many others. Yet they do not extend this philosophy to their operating system, and in the last few years, they've made an attempt to impair the ways free software makes "life better together" further by making critical functions of Microsoft GitHub rely on nonfree JavaScript and directing users toward Service as a Software Substitute (SaaSS) platforms. By attacking user freedom through Windows, and the free software community directly by means of nonfree JavaScript, Microsoft proves that it has no plans to loosen its grip on users.

No program that you're forbidden to copy, modify, or share can truly bring people "together" in the way that Microsoft claims.

Thankfully, and right outside the window, there's a true community of users you and your loved ones can join...

Let's stop falling for the trap of chasing short-term, superficial improvements in proprietary software that may seem to make life better, and instead opt for free software, the only software that can support the best versions of ourselves.

Submission + - Unprecedented - Cyber attackers release secret key to save Irish health system (bbc.com)

Submitted by Lanodonal
Lanodonal writes: The Conti ransomware group was reportedly asking the Irish health service for $20m to restore services after the "catastrophic hack". But, unprecedently, the criminals have handed over the software tool for free.The Irish government is now testing the handed-over tool and insists it did not pay anything to the hackers.

Submission + - SPAM: Inexpensive battery charges rapidly for electric vehicles, reduces range anxiety

Submitted by schwit1
schwit1 writes: Range anxiety, the fear of running out of power before being able to recharge an electric vehicle, may be a thing of the past, according to a team of Penn State engineers who are looking at lithium iron phosphate batteries that have a range of 250 miles with the ability to charge in 10 minutes.

"We developed a pretty clever battery for mass-market electric vehicles with cost parity with combustion engine vehicles," said Chao-Yang Wang, William E. Diefenderfer Chair of mechanical engineering, professor of chemical engineering and professor of materials science and engineering, and director of the Electrochemical Engine Center at Penn State. "There is no more range anxiety and this battery is affordable."

The researchers also say that the battery should be good for 2 million miles in its lifetime.
Link to Original Source

Submission + - The Intel 4004 microprocessor, turning 49 today, still inspires (4004.com) 1

Submitted by mcpublic
mcpublic writes: Even though Intel debuted its groundbreaking 4004 on November 15th, 1971, 49 years ago today, in the pages of Electronics News, there is something about Intel's very first microprocessor that keeps inspiring engineers to pay tribute to this historic chip.

Turkish iPhone engineer, Erturk Kocalar, (now at Google) and the force behind 8bitforce.com, just added this 4-bit granddaddy to his open-source lineup of 8-bit "Retroshields." These elegant little adapters let you score your favorite, vintage microprocessor on eBay and actually play around with it without having to wire up a multi-chip memory and the peripherals needed to make your little “engine” jolly fun. An Arduino emulates the rest of the system for you in software and lets you program and poke at your relic via USB from the comfort of a modern laptop.

Before FPGAs and yes, even before electronic CAD, there was a tradition of emulating hardware using software. In fact, it is central to the 4004 Genesis story. Busicom, a Japanese maker of mechanical adding machines, had designed its own electronic calculator chip-set and eagerly approached the now-famous Silicon Valley chip-maker to manufacture it. Back in 1969 Intel was just a tiny startup hoping to obsolete core memory with commodity semiconductors, and they didn’t have extra logic designers on-staff. But Intel did have a prescient counter-proposal: we’ll build you a general purpose computer-on-a-chip and emulate your custom calculator architecture using a ROM-conserving byte-code interpreter. Busicom agreed, and Intel managed to hire Italian superstar Federico Faggin away from Fairchild to craft a novel, customer-programmable microprocessor, which later, in 1975, German mechanical taxi meter maker Argo Kienzle would go on to launch the world's first electronic taxi meter. Starting to see a pattern of progress in everyday automation?

For photos, schematics, mask artwork, code, graphical simulators, more history, and the findings of a dedicated team of "digital archeologists," visit 4004.com

Submission + - Rahm Emanuel: Retrain Millions of Fired Retail Workers as 'Computer Coders' 1

Submitted by theodp
theodp writes: Learning to code isn't just for coal miners anymore. Appearing on ABC, former Chicago Mayor and Obama White House Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel on Friday shared his vision for how a Biden administration could help offer a promising future in computer programming for laid-off retail workers (Twitter video): "One of the things we've got to do to rebuild, mainly on infrastructure and there's going to be people like at JCPenney and other retail — those jobs aren't coming back. Give them the tools [and say] 'Six months, you're going to become a computer coder. We'll pay for it.' And you'll get millions of people to sign up for that. They're not going back to parts of the retail economy and we need to give them a lifeline to what's the next chapter." Before leaving office, Emanuel worked to make Computer Science a high school graduation requirement beginning with the Class of 2020, although the Chicago Public Schools waived the requirement this year, citing the pandemic.

Submission + - Second 'key' used by the SARS-CoV-2 virus to enter into human cells discovered 2

Submitted by Kiuas
Kiuas writes: Researchers from the Technical university of Munich and the University of Helsinki have discovered a second receptor (called neuropilin-1) which is used by the SARS-CoV-2 virus to enter into human cells via the nasal cavity. The discovery is important as it helps explain the rapid spread of the virus, and also helps define a potential target for antirviral intervention. Quoting a university of Helsinki press release on the discovery:

“That SARS-CoV-2 uses the receptor ACE2 to infect our cells was known, but viruses often use multiple factors to maximize their infectious potential” says Dr. Giuseppe Balistreri, head of the research group Viral Cell Biology at the University of Helsinki involved in the study. “Unlike the main receptor ACE2, which is present in low levels, Neuropilin-1 is very abundant in the cells of the nasal cavity. This is a strategically important localization possibly contributing to the efficient infectivity of this new coronavirus, which has caused a major pandemic, spreading rapidly around the world”, Balistreri explains. — -

By specifically blocking neuropilin-1 with antibodies, the researchers were able to significantly reduce infection in laboratory cell cultures. “If you think of ACE2 as a door lock to enter the cell, then neuropilin-1 could be a factor that directs the virus to the door. ACE2 is expressed at very low levels in most cells. Thus, it is not easy for the virus to find doors to enter. Other factors such as neuropilin-1 might help the virus finding its door”, says Balistreri. — -

Balistreri cautiously concludes “it is currently too early to speculate whether blocking directly neuropilin could be a viable therapeutic approach, as this could lead to side effects. This will have to be looked at in future studies. Currently our laboratory is testing the effect of new molecules that we have specifically designed to interrupt the connection between the virus and neuropilin. Preliminary results are very promising and we hope to obtain validations in vivo in the near future.”

The study itself was published in the Science magazine on the 20th of October.

Government

Governors On East and West Coasts Form Pacts To Decide When To Reopen Economies (cnn.com) 267

Posted by BeauHD from the latest-developments dept.
gollum123 shares a report from CNN: States on the country's East and West coasts are forming their own regional pacts to work together on how to reopen from the stay-at-home orders each has issued to limit the spread of the novel coronavirus. The first such group to be announced came Monday on the East Coast. Democratic New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo said his state, New Jersey, Connecticut, Pennsylvania, Delaware and Rhode Island each plan to name a public health and economic official to a regional working group. The chief of staff of the governor of each state also will be a part of the group, which will begin work immediately to design a reopening plan. Later on Monday, the West Coast states of California, Washington and Oregon also announced they are joining forces in a plan to begin incremental release of stay-at-home orders. When announcing the three-state coordination of the western governors during his midday briefing on Monday, Newsom quoted an old proverb: "If you want to go fast, go alone, but if you want to go far, go together." The report notes that other regional pacts could be in the works as well.

"Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz told reporters on Monday that he spoke with Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer and Wisconsin Gov. Tony Evers about working together to open those states from their respective stay-at-home orders," reports CNN. "But the only way that this can happen is if we have widespread testing," Walz said.

Submission + - SPAM: To Grade or Not to Grade, That is the Education in the Time of Covid-19 Question

Submitted by theodp
theodp writes: The LA Times reports that controversies over grading are roiling universities and colleges, as the coronavirus outbreak prompted them to shift to online learning and send most students home to disparate circumstances. Some students and faculty believe that normal grading practices during these times are deeply unfair, while others feel students should be able to choose between a letter grade or pass/fail, arguing that earning high marks can distinguish them for jobs, scholarships or graduate school.

At Harvard, all undergraduates will receive grades of either "Emergency Satisfactory" or "Emergency Unsatisfactory" in their spring classes. Faculty may supplement this terminology with a "qualitative assessment of student learning."

The coronavirus situation has also prompted grading changes at the high school level. The College Board announced that all AP exams will be streamlined and only include questions on material covered thru early March. Students taking the AP Computer Science Principles course will not even be subjected to an AP exam in 2020 but can still earn college credit.

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