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Comment another way around internet blockage (Score 1) 123

by SteveWoz (#65007001) Attached to: Russia Tests Cutting Off Access To Global Web, and VPNs Can't Get Around It

Known VPN services have identifiable server addresses that can be blocked. Instead, you can set up a cheap raspberry pi (or other) at your home and use an encrypted SSH connection to that [raspberry pi] from far away. Then turn on your SOCKS proxy (part of WiFi Details on Macintosh) and check to see that your IP address shows to the world you access as that of your raspberry pi. I do this all the time, including right now. It also helps to watch sports events.

Comment teenager (Score 1) 19

by bmo (#61982671) Attached to: New Mineral Discovered In Deep-Earth Diamond

as a kid, i built one of dave mao's presses. it's deceptively simple for what it does.

it's basically a stack of belleville washers leveraging a pair of tongs.

you can create different pressures depending on the way you stack the washers, which are essentially springs.

i didn't have the cash for the diamonds, but it worked. if i kept it, i could probably buy diamonds for it.

Submission + - Maryland To Become First State To Tax Online Ads Sold By Facebook And Google. (npr.org)

Submitted by schwit1
schwit1 writes: With a pair of votes, Maryland can now claim to be a pioneer: it's the first place in the country that will impose a tax on the sale of online ads.

The House of Delegates and Senate both voted this week to override Gov. Larry Hogan's veto of a bill passed last year to levy a tax on online ads. The tax will apply to the revenue companies like Facebook and Google make from selling digital ads, and will range from 2.5% to 10% per ad, depending on the value of the company selling the ad. (The tax would only apply to companies making more than $100 million a year.)

Proponents say the new tax is simply a reflection of where the economy has gone, and an attempt to have Maryland's tax code catch up to it. The tax is expected to draw in an estimated $250 million a year to help fund an ambitious decade-long overhaul of public education in the state that's expected to cost $4 billion a year in new spending by 2030. (Hogan also vetoed that bill, and the Democrat-led General Assembly also overrode him this week.)

Still, there remains the possibility of lawsuits to stop the tax from taking effect; Maryland Attorney General Brian Frosh warned last year that "there is some risk" that a court could strike down some provisions of the bill over constitutional concerns.

Submission + - Tesla Wins Lawsuit Against Whistleblower Accused of Hacks (cnet.com)

Submitted by Anonymous Coward
An anonymous reader writes: The US District Court of Nevada awarded Tesla a win in its lawsuit against a former employee, filed two years ago. You may recall CEO Elon Musk referred to this incident in a previously leaked email calling on employees to be "extremely vigilant." Martin Tripp, who worked at the company's Nevada Gigafactory, was accused of hacking the automaker and supplying sensitive information to unnamed third parties. Reuters reported Friday the court ruled in Tesla's favor and dismissed Tripp's motion to file another reply to the court. Tesla did not immediately respond to a request for comment, but according to Reuters, the court will grant Tesla's motion to seal the case.

Submission + - DuckDuckGo Is Growing Fast (bleepingcomputer.com)

Submitted by Anonymous Coward
An anonymous reader writes: DuckDuckGo, the privacy-focused search engine, announced that August 2020 ended in over 2 billion total searches via its search platform. While Google remains the most popular search engine, DuckDuckGo has gained a great deal of traction in recent months as more and more users have begun to value their privacy on the internet. DuckDuckGo saw over 2 billion searches and 4 million app/extension installations, and the company also said that they have over 65 million active users. DuckDuckGo could shatter its old traffic record if the same growth trend continues. Even though DuckDuckGo is growing rapidly, it still controls less than 2 percent of all search volume in the United States. However, DuckDuckGo's growth trend has continued throughout the year, mainly due to Google and other companies' privacy scandal.

Submission + - Why passenger jets could soon be flying in formation (cnn.com)

Submitted by ragnar_ianal
ragnar_ianal writes: Look at the V-shaped formations of migrating ducks and scientists have long surmised that there are aeronautical efficiencies at play. Aerbus is examining this in a practical manner to see if fuel efficiency can be enhanced.

Building on test flights in 2016 with an Airbus A380 megajet and A350-900 wide-body jetliner, fello'fly hopes to demonstrate and quantify the aerodynamic efficiencies while developing in-flight operational procedures. Initial flight testing with two A350s began in March 2020. The program will be expanded next year to include the involvement of Frenchbee and SAS airlines, along with air traffic control and air navigation service providers from France, the UK, and Europe.

"It's very, very different from what the military would call formation flight. It's really nothing to do with close formation," explained Dr. Sandra Bour Schaeffer, CEO of Airbus UpNext, in an interview with CNN Travel.

Comment Re:No Autonomy (Score 2) 125

You might have missed that Musk made the same claim about 2016, with the 1-camera sensor system. The 2017 claim was with the newer 8-camera system, and the claim was made before Tesla even had software for the new sensors, and the Tesla then lacked adaptive cruise control, adaptive high beam, self parking, summon, and other things that the prior model did have. I'm embarrassed that I actually believed these claims.

Comment hypocrisy (Score 1) 67

by bmo (#57843764) Attached to: ACLU To Feds: Your 'Hacking Presents a Unique Threat To Individual Privacy'

I read the summary of this article and read the previous summary and...

The US and the rest of the "free world" (such as it is) is bitching and moaning about APT10, a so-called hacking collective. Whilst the "free world" goes on hacking sprees against their own citizens (five-eyes, etc).

It's not about catching criminals (the ACLU is falling into the semantics trap). It's about "instant dossiers" on people who might upset "the system" - i.e., the incumbent powers that be. Everyone has skeletons, and without "second chances" (the US since its founding had been the land of second chances - ability to re-invent oneself, until recently, with this data collecting bullshit tied to Real ID), there is not a politician in the US that can effect change.

The future is a mishmash of Big Brother, Little Brothers (private companies collecting data to sell you things, for example) Brave New World, and GATTACA, in the worst possible way. Because every time I think something has gotten as worse as it can get, it gets worser by orders of magnitude, so my ruminations here and in my head can't possibly imagine the tyrannical dystopia coming down the road.

NUMBER: 1593
AUTHOR: Benjamin Franklin (1706â"90)
QUOTATION: âoeWell, Doctor, what have we gotâ"a Republic or a Monarchy?â

    âoeA Republic, if you can keep it.â
ATTRIBUTION: The response is attributed to BENJAMIN FRANKLINâ"at the close of the Constitutional Convention of 1787, when queried as he left Independence Hall on the final day of deliberationâ"in the notes of Dr. James McHenry, one of Marylandâ(TM)s delegates to the Convention.

https://www.bartleby.com/73/15...

"This tribble is dead, Jim" -- Dr. McCoy

--
BMO

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