Posts made by mlnews

Facebook broke Canadian privacy law, according to regulators

‘Their privacy framework was empty,’ the report said
Privacy regulators in Canada have determined that Facebook broke local privacy laws by mishandling user data.

Tesla’s autonomy event: Impressive progress with an unrealistic timeline

An old software joke explains Elon Musk's implausible autonomy timeline.
There's an old joke in the software engineering world, sometimes attributed to Tom Cargill of Bell Labs: "the first 90 percent of the code accounts for the first 90 percent of the development time.

New iPad feature to compete with laptops could come in Apple's iOS 13

Commentary: When Apple unveils the next iOS at WWDC 2019 in June, it could integrate one of the trademarks of the original MAC
The debate over whether an Apple iPad can replace a laptop remains polarized. But with the launch of the next iteration of iOS, Apple could finally remove one of the longest-running arguments against the iPad as a productivity device.

Linux Distributions Should Enhance how Sudo Asks for Passwords

sudo is probably the most famous command in the Linux world. It allows ordinary users to run other commands or programs using the superuser privileges, but it doesn't show you the password while you are typing it.
This behavior should change by default.

Why Linux stands out amongst other OSes

Up until recently, Elementary OS was my platform of choice. It's an elegant, simple, and user-friendly solution for the desktop.
One thing that the Elementary developers do that I believe is fairly wise is to not allow upgrades from one major release to another.

Scientific Linux Will Be Discontinued After 14 Years as Fermilab Moves to CentOS

Fermilab, the makers of the Scientific Linux distribution based on the Red Hat Enterprise Linux operating system recently announced that they will no longer develop it.

NSA reportedly recommends retiring phone surveillance program

Program that analyzed Americans' calls and texts has become too burdensome, sources tell The Wall Street Journal.
The National Security Agency has recommended the White House abandon a controversial program that collects and analyzes data on millions of Americans' domestic calls and texts, The Wall Street Journal reported Wednesday.

Microsoft is now a $1 trillion company

Strong earnings push Microsoft toward a new milestone
Microsoft has become the third US company to pass a market cap of $1 trillion.

Adobe Illustrator’s latest experimental feature lets you emulate your mood boards

Capture the colors on your mood board
Sign back into your Pinterest and grab those mood boards, because they’re about to come in handy.

Signature of changing fundamental constants may hide in copper block

Simple as using an interferometer to measure length change in block of material.
Once upon a time, I was involved in an abortive attempt to measure the variation of the fundamental constants.

Massachusetts offshore wind project gets green light at roughly 8.9 cents/kWh

The Vineyard Wind project will also commit $15 million to battery development.
Last May, Massachusetts chose companies representing a project called Vineyard Wind to negotiate long-term contracts for an 800 megawatt (MW) offshore wind project that would serve some 400,000 homes.

Cautious rollout of the world’s first malaria vaccine, which is 39% effective

The vaccine will be used in pilot programs in three countries, under careful watch.
Sometimes, a vaccine is a slam dunk. Take the 97.5-percent-effective Ebola vaccine, for instance, or the 97-percent-effective measles vaccine.

Egypt Coptic monks sentenced to death for killing bishop

Two former Coptic Christian monks have been sentenced to death in Egypt over the murder of a bishop last year, officials have confirmed.

Bishop Epiphanius, 64, was found dead in a pool of blood in July 2018 at a desert monastery north-west of Cairo.

Tenerife cave: Son leads police to bodies of mother and brother

A little German boy's testimony led Spanish police to the bodies of his mother and 10-year-old brother in a cave on the island of Tenerife.
Police arrested the German father, suspected of killing the two victims.

US election 2020: Joe Biden launches presidential bid, joining crowded field

Former US Vice-President Joe Biden has declared a presidential bid, putting an end to months of speculation.

In a video announcement, Mr Biden argued that the "core values of the nation... our very democracy, everything that has made America America, is at stake".

Antarctica: Thousands of emperor penguin chicks wiped out

Thousands of emperor penguin chicks drowned when the sea-ice on which they were being raised was destroyed in severe weather.

The catastrophe occurred in 2016 in Antarctica's Weddell Sea.

North Korea summit: Putin says Kim 'needs guarantees'

Russian President Vladimir Putin has said North Korean leader Kim Jong-un needs international security guarantees if he is to end his nuclear programme.

Such guarantees would need to be offered within a multinational framework, he added, following talks near Vladivostok in Russia's far east.

Microsoft Teams PowerShell Module Now Commercially Available

Microsoft announced on Wednesday that the Microsoft Teams PowerShell Module reached the "general availability" release stage.
The Microsoft Teams PowerShell Module lets IT pros do things like provision a new team or convert an existing group to a team.

Microsoft Adding SharePoint News Enhancements This Month

Microsoft described coming additions to its News pages in SharePoint Online that will be arriving this month or the next.

News pages and SharePoint Online pages will be getting the option to target various audiences via an "Audience Targeting" toggle switch that's coming to Office 365 tenancies via a "late April" update.

NASA’s InSight spacecraft detects its first possible ‘marsquake’ on the Red Planet

Sadly, it was smaller than what NASA needs
NASA’s InSight lander, which has been sitting on the surface of Mars since November, just detected its first possible quake on the Red Planet.

2019 has seen the most measles cases in 20 years, CDC says

A dangerous comeback
Measles just hit a major milestone as it spreads across the country, infecting the most people since the year 2000, when public health officials declared the virus eliminated in the US.

Airbnb wants to create TV shows to convince people to travel more

The hotel and rental platform is looking into building an original video studio
Even Airbnb is getting into the TV game.

@black3dynamite said in Miscellaneous Tech News:

Wyze April Newsletter in my email today.

[Microsoft 3Q19 revenue up 14% on the back of strong cloud and, uh, Windows?](

https://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2019/04/microsoft-3q19-revenue-up-14-on-the-back-of-strong-cloud-and-uh-windows/)
The PC market declined, but the Windows market did not.
In the third quarter of its 2019 financial year, which ran up until March 31, 2019, Microsoft's revenue was $30.6 billion, up 14 percent year on year.

AT&T says 5G will be priced like home Internet—pay more for faster speeds

Users "are willing to pay a premium" for 500Mbps or 1Gbps, AT&T CEO says.
AT&T says 5G will be priced like home Internet—pay more for faster speeds | Ars Technica.

The Oscars decides Netflix is OK after all, following DOJ warning

Academy will keep existing eligibility rule requiring one week in LA theater.
Netflix and other streaming platforms won't be banned from the Oscars as the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences has rejected calls from Steven Spielberg and others to restrict eligibility for the annual awards.

Overwatch’s new Workshop lets players build their own custom games

Blizzard’s team shooter Overwatch is getting a big new feature.
Today, the developer announced the Overwatch Workshop, which it describes as “a simplified game scripting system” that will let players create their own custom games.

Anker’s new 60W USB-C GaN charger looks like the one we’ve been waiting for

The prince that was promised?
Anker’s first gallium nitride (GaN) charger — the 30W PowerPort Atom PD 1 — was interesting, largely due to its size, but it was less practical due to its low power and single USB-C port.

Tesla lost $702 million last quarter after drop in Model 3 deliveries

It also says it doesn’t expect another profit until the third quarter of this year
Tesla lost $702 million in the first quarter of 2019, after posting back-to-back profits for the first time ever to finish out 2018, the company announced in an official filing Wednesday.

Jacinda Ardern leads effort to curb online extremism

New Zealand and France will lead efforts to stop the use of social media to organise and promote terrorism in the wake of the Christchurch attacks.
A gunman killed 50 people in an attack on two mosques in March, while live-streaming the massacre on Facebook.

Dick Barnes, pioneer behind oldest working computer, dies

One of the co-designers of a machine later recognised as the world's oldest working digital computer has died.
Richard "Dick" Barnes helped to create the Harwell Dekatron, which was first put to use in 1951 by Britain's fledgling nuclear research establishment.