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Submission + - SPAM: Court rules Facebook can be liable for sex trafficking recruitment

Submitted by schwit1
schwit1 writes: The Texas Supreme Court ruled Friday in a Houston case that Facebook is not a “lawless no-man’s-land” and can be held liable for the conduct of pimps who use its technology to recruit and prey on children.

The ruling came in a trio of Houston civil actions involving teenage trafficking victims who met their abusive pimps through Facebook’s messaging functions. They sued the California-based social media juggernaut for negligence and product liability, saying that Facebook failed to warn about or attempt to prevent sex trafficking from taking place on its internet platforms. The suits also alleged that Facebook benefited from the sexual exploitation of trafficking victims.

“Holding internet platforms accountable for the words or actions of their users is one thing, and the federal precedent uniformly dictates that Section 230 does not allow it,” the opinion said. “Holding internet platforms accountable for their own misdeeds is quite another thing. This is particularly the case for human trafficking.”
Link to Original Source

Submission + - Sony PS3 leak leading to banned consoles (threatpost.com)

Submitted by tlhIngan
tlhIngan writes: A file containing every PS3 console ID was apparently publicly accessible leading to reports by PS3 players that they're consoles are getting banned. This list is being used by malicious people in order to wreak havoc and Sony is banning the fake consoles, leading to innocent users getting their consoles banned. Even though the PS3 is two generations old at this point, lack of PS3 compatibility in the PS4 has lead to many PS3s still being enjoyed today. Sony has not issued any response to this attack.

Submission + - Report: 65% of social media anti-vax propaganda comes from just 12 people 3

Submitted by jhylkema
jhylkema writes: Just 12 people account for the lion's share of anti-vaccination propaganda posted to three of the leading social media outlets, according to a study from a London-based group opposed to online hate and disinformation. According to the NPR report, a study (PDF file) conducted by the Centre for the Countering of Digital Hate identified the "Disinformation Dozen" people, including RFK Jr., Joseph Mercola, and Sherri Tenpenny, who account for 65% of the anti-vaccine content posted to Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram, and 73% of the same posted to Facebook. In its study, the group blasts the social media companies for allowing their platforms to be abused and calls for them to be de-platformed. "Living in full view of the public on the internet are a small group of individuals who... are abusing social media platforms to misrepresent the threat of Covid and spread misinformation about the safety of vaccines," the study said in its introduction. "Facebook, Google and Twitter have put policies into place to prevent the spread of vaccine misinformation; yet to date, all have failed to satisfactorily enforce those policies."

Submission + - SPAM: France planning to allow use of algorithms to detect extremism online

Submitted by Hmmmmmm
Hmmmmmm writes: The French government is planning to harden counter-terrorism laws, permitting the use of algorithms to detect online extremist activity, amid a growing political row over security in the run up to next year’s presidential race.

The interior minister, Gérald Darmanin, said attackers were now “isolated individuals, increasingly younger, unknown to intelligence services, and often without any links to established Islamist groups”. This was a growing problem for France because they self-radicalised very quickly, within days or weeks. These attackers no longer used text messages or mobile phones to communicate but instead went online or used social media direct messaging, he said.

Darmanin said algorithms would allow the state to potentially pick up if a person was repeatedly searching online for a topic such as beheadings. He argued that Google and other online commercial sites already used algorithms and the state should be able to as well, with independent oversight – despite concern from some rights lawyers that there would not be enough transparency.

“The last nine attacks on French soil were committed by individuals who were unknown to the security services, who were not on a watchlist and were not suspected of being radicalised,” Darmanin told France Inter radio. This meant new methods were needed, he said, adding that of 35 attacks prevented by the state since 2017, two were stopped by intelligence work online.
Link to Original Source

Submission + - SPAM: TSMC founder says China's semiconductor industry still five years behind. 1

Submitted by Anonymous Coward
An anonymous reader writes: “Mainland China has given out subsidies to the tune of tens of billions of US dollars over the past 20 years but it is still five years behind TSMC,” Chang said. “Its logic chip design capability is still one to two years behind the US and Taiwan. The mainland is still not yet a competitor.”

In his speech, Chang also took a swipe at US chip giant Intel, describing its recent decision to enter the contract chip making market as “very ironic” because it turned down an opportunity to invest in TSMC more than three decades ago. Contract chip makers like TSMC typically take orders from so-called fabless chip makers like Qualcomm, which design their products but outsource the manufacturing.

Chang said he was rejected by Intel when he approached it for funding in 1985. “In the past, Intel was the alpha sneering at us and thought that we would never get big,” he said. “They never thought the business of [outsourced] wafer fabrication would become so important today.”

Chang said the US is also at a disadvantage compared with Taiwan because it lacks engineers dedicated to the semiconductor manufacturing sector, adding that the “US level of dedication to manufacturing was absolutely no match for that of Taiwan”.

“What I need right now are capable and dedicated engineers, technicians and operators. And they have to be willing to throw themselves into manufacturing,” he said. “In the US, doing manufacturing isn’t popular. It hasn’t been popular for decades.”
Link to Original Source

Submission + - SPAM: Samsung's New Upcycling Program Turns An Old Galaxy Phone Into a New IoT Device

Submitted by Anonymous Coward
An anonymous reader writes: Today, with the expansion of its Galaxy Upcycling at Home service (which is still in beta), users in the U.S., U.K., and South Korea will get access to an experimental feature in the SmartThings app designed to give an old Galaxy handset new life as a useful smart home accessory. By using the app to reconfigure the device’s battery usage and optimization, Samsung says even older devices will still be able to deliver good longevity, while the phone’s usual assortment of wireless connectivity features makes it easy to pair the phone with other devices in your home.

In the SmartThings app, Samsung provides a range of functions that an old smartphone can perform, including serving as a light sensor that can automatically turn on your smart lights or even your TV when it gets dark. Alternatively, you can also convert an old Galaxy phone into a sound sensor, with the phone using AI to detect common household noises like a barking dog, crying baby, or a knock on the door. In this way, you can also repurpose an old Samsung phone as a baby monitor of sorts [...]. And of course, even without much fiddling, upcycled Samsung phones can also be used as universal remotes, providing an easy way to control your streaming video box, play music on your smart speakers, control your lights, and more.
Link to Original Source

Submission + - SPAM: Missing Arctic Ice Fueled the 'Beast of the East' Winter Storm

Submitted by Anonymous Coward
An anonymous reader writes: Extreme weather has become the new normal—whether it’s precipitation, drought, wind, heat, or cold. The question of how the ever-shrinking layer of Arctic sea ice has contributed to any of these changes has prompted some lively discussion over the past few years. Researchers have proposed that a weakened jet stream driven by vanishing Arctic sea ice might play a large role in extreme winter events like the descending polar vortex that struck North America earlier this year. But the idea hasn’t held up well in light of more recent evidence.

But now, researchers have identified a direct link between extreme winter weather and sea ice loss. The 2018 "Beast of the East” winter storm hit Europe with record-breaking snowfall and low temperatures. And potentially as much as 88 percent of that snowfall originated from increased evaporation of the Barents Sea.

The working hypothesis is that Arctic sea ice acts as a cap for Arctic waters, limiting evaporation. Less sea ice and warmer Arctic temperatures mean more evaporation, potentially explaining the increased severity of winter storms like the Beast of the East. Until now, it’s been tough to measure direct evidence linking sea ice loss to extreme European winters, but recent advances in technology are making this a little less challenging.
Link to Original Source

Submission + - FBI gets warrant to hack vulnerable Microsoft Exchange Servers (vice.com)

Submitted by detritus.
detritus. writes: Today the DOJ announced the FBI was granted a warrant to access hundreds of servers across the United States running vulnerable versions of Microsoft Exchange to remove web shells left by hackers who had earlier penetrated the systems. They are attempting to contact the affected owners.

Submission + - Farmers vs computer chips in Taiwan (nytimes.com)

Submitted by smooth wombat
smooth wombat writes: Taiwan is experiencing the worst drought in at least 50 years. Despite the water shortage, they are taking steps to keep the water flowing to its semi-condiuctor industry at the expense of its farmers. From the article:

More than 90 percent of the world’s manufacturing capacity for the most advanced chips is in Taiwan and run by TSMC, which makes chips for Apple, Intel and other big names. The company said last week that it would invest $100 billion over the next three years to increase capacity, which will likely further strengthen its commanding presence in the market.

TSMC says the drought has not affected its production so far. But with Taiwan’s rainfall becoming no more predictable even as its tech industry grows, the island is having to go to greater and greater lengths to keep the water flowing.

In recent months, the government has flown planes and burned chemicals to seed the clouds above reservoirs. It has built a seawater desalination plant in Hsinchu, home to TSMC’s headquarters, and a pipeline connecting the city with the rainier north. It has ordered industries to cut use. In some places it has reduced water pressure and begun shutting off supplies for two days each week. Some companies, including TSMC, have hauled in truckloads of water from other areas.

But the most sweeping measure has been the halt on irrigation, which affects 183,000 acres of farmland, around a fifth of Taiwan’s irrigated land.

Submission + - How long would it take to walk around the moon? (livescience.com)

Submitted by fahrbot-bot
fahrbot-bot writes: From our vantage point on Earth, the moon looks small. But if you were to hop in a spaceship, don a spacesuit and go on an epic lunar hike, how long would it take to walk all the way around it?

The answer depends on myriad factors, including how fast you can go, how much time every day you spend walking, and what detours you'll need to take to avoid dangerous topography.

Such a trip around the moon could take longer than a year, but in reality, there are a lot more challenges to overcome.

A total of 12 humans have stepped foot on the lunar surface, all of whom were part of the Apollo missions between 1969 and 1972, according to NASA. The footage that was beamed back to Earth showed how challenging (and, apparently, fun) it was to walk — or more accurately, bounce — around in the moon's low gravity, which is one-sixth the gravity of Earth.

However, research from NASA has since suggested that it is possible for humans to maneuver much faster on the moon than the Apollo astronauts did. Theoretically, walking the circumference of the moon could be done faster than previously predicted.

Submission + - SPAM: Nuclear Should Be Considered Part of Clean Energy Standard, White House Says

Submitted by Anonymous Coward
An anonymous reader writes: More details have emerged about the climate and energy priorities of President Joe Biden’s infrastructure plan, and they include support for nuclear power and carbon capture with sequestration (CCS). In a press conference yesterday with reporters, White House climate adviser Gina McCarthy said the administration would seek to implement a clean energy standard that would encourage utilities to use greener power sources. She added that both nuclear and CCS would be included in the administration’s desired portfolio. The clean energy standard adds a climate dimension to the Biden administration’s recently announced infrastructure plan, seeking to put the US on a path to eliminating carbon pollution.

“We think a CES is appropriate and advisable, and we think the industry itself sees it as one of the most flexible and most effective tools,” McCarthy told reporters. “The CES is going to be fairly robust and it is going to be inclusive." McCarthy did not provide details about how far a CES would go in supporting nuclear power. It’s possible that the policy may only cover plants that are currently operating, but it may also extend to include new plants. The former is more likely than the latter, though, given the challenges and costs involved in building new nuclear capacity.
Link to Original Source

Submission + - Linus Torvalds on Intel And AMDs New Approaches To Interrupt And Exception Handl (linuxreviews.org) 1

Submitted by xiando
xiando writes: AMD and Intel are both working on new standards for handling interrupts and exceptions on x86-64 processors. AMD is proposing a set of new "Supervisor Entry" extensions as a band-aid to the current interrupt descriptor table event handling system. Intel wants to throw that whole legacy system away and start over with a fundamentally different "Flexible Return and Event Delivery" (FRED) system. Linux-architect Linus Torvalds weighted in on the merits of both approaches a few weeks ago.

Submission + - Scientists discover how humans develop larger brains than other apes (phys.org)

Submitted by fahrbot-bot
fahrbot-bot writes: A new study is the first to identify how human brains grow much larger, with three times as many neurons, compared with chimpanzee and gorilla brains. The study, led by researchers at the Medical Research Council (MRC) Laboratory of Molecular Biology in Cambridge, UK, identified a key molecular switch that can make ape brain organoids grow more like human organoids, and vice versa.

During the early stages of brain development, neurons are made by stem cells called neural progenitors. These progenitor cells initially have a cylindrical shape that makes it easy for them to split into identical daughter cells with the same shape.

The more times the neural progenitor cells multiply at this stage, the more neurons there will be later. As the cells mature and slow their multiplication, they elongate, forming a shape like a stretched ice-cream cone.

Previously, research in mice had shown that their neural progenitor cells mature into a conical shape and slow their multiplication within hours.

They found that in gorillas and chimpanzees this transition takes a long time, occurring over approximately five days.

Human progenitors were even more delayed in this transition, taking around seven days. The human progenitor cells maintained their cylinder-like shape for longer than other apes and during this time they split more frequently, producing more cells.

This difference in the speed of transition from neural progenitors to neurons means that the human cells have more time to multiply. This could be largely responsible for the approximately three-fold greater number of neurons in human brains compared with gorilla or chimpanzee brains.

Submission + - Startup debuts airless bicycle tire based on NASA rover tech (techcrunch.com)

Submitted by byennie
byennie writes: A new airless bicycle tire called "METL" was introduced today by The SMART Tire Company. The tire is made from shape memory alloys (SMAs) and was originally designed for Mars rover missions (it's headed to Mars in 2026 as part of the Fetch rover).

The structural tire claims to be flat-free and high performance, leaning on the unique properties of SMAs developed at NASA for future heavy vehicles in space. According to the company, “the shape memory alloy tire is made from advanced, lightweight materials known as NiTinol+, creating a tire that is elastic like rubber yet strong like titanium, exhibiting perfect shape memory without ever going flat.”

Submission + - Personal experiences bridge moral and political divides better than facts (livescience.com)

Submitted by AmiMoJo
AmiMoJo writes: In his inaugural address last week, President Joe Biden called for unity. But how can Americans come together, given what seems to be growing political contention and deep divides?

New research suggests the answer can be found in stories, not statistics. People respect those they disagree with more when their position comes from a place of personal experience, not facts and figures, finds a new series of experiments published Monday (Jan. 25) in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. This is especially true when the personal stories are rooted in experiences of harm or vulnerability.

"In moral disagreements, experiences seem truer than facts," said Kurt Gray, a psychologist and director of the Center for the Science of Moral Understanding at the University of North Carolina.

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