SoylentNews

n1 writes:

Alphabet Inc's Google unit (GOOGL.O), Ford Motor Co (F.N), the ride-sharing service Uber [UBER.UL] and two other companies said on Tuesday they are forming a coalition to push for federal action to help speed self-driving cars to market.

Sweden-based Volvo Cars, which is owned by China's Zhejiang Geely Holding Group Co GEELY.UL, and Uber rival Lyft also are part of the Self-Driving Coalition for Safer Streets. The group said in a statement it will "work with lawmakers, regulators and the public to realize the safety and societal benefits of self-driving vehicles."

Source: Reuters

Original Submission

Tor Browser 5.5.5 is released (April 26th, 2016)

An Anonymous Coward writes:

= Announcement:
https://blog.torproject.org/blog/tor-browser-555-released

= Download:
https://www.torproject.org/download/download-easy.html
https://www.torproject.org/dist/torbrowser/5.5.5/

"Tor Browser 5.5.5 is now available from the Tor Browser Project page and also from our distribution directory.

This release features import security updates to Firefox.

This release updates Firefox to 38.8.0esr. Additionally, we bump NoScript to version 2.9.0.11 and HTTPS-Everywhere to 5.1.6.

Moreover, we don't advertise our help desk anymore as we are currently restructuring our user support."

[Continues...]

takyon writes:

Intel wants to replace the 3.5mm audio jack in laptops, tablets, and smartphones with a USB Type-C connector:

USB Type-C has a number of chances to become the standard for data and charging connector for smartphones and tablets running either Android or Windows. However, in the long-term future, Intel wants USB-C to be even more universal (and therefore pervasive) than it is going to be, which is why at IDF Shenzhen part of one of the talks evolved around using Type-C for audio.

Audio receptacles on PCs and mobile equipment are virtually the last remaining analog interfaces of modern devices, requiring certain techniques to maintain a high audio quality and remove interference. Intel proposes to replace things like 3.5 mm mini-jack with USB Type-C which will help to add features to headsets and will simplify connections of multi-channel audio equipment to various gadgets. This is not the first time a company has proposed to replace analog audio on PCs and mobile devices, but so far, nobody has succeeded due to the ubiquity of 3.5mm. Since the industry may still not be ready to go all-digital, there seems to be a backup plan.

[...] The USB-C has sideband use pins (SBU1 and SBU2) which can be used for analog audio in audio adapter accessory mode. Use of the sideband pins should not impact data transfers and other vital functionality of USB-C cables, which should make them relatively simple from the engineering point of view. In this case, the USB-C connector will just replace the 3.5 mm mini jack and may even gain some additional features, such as a thermal sensor in an earpiece [that] could measure temperature for fitness tracking.

Original Submission

n1 writes:

UPDATE: NBC Reports: "Former House Speaker Dennis Hastert was sentenced Wednesday to 15 months in prison in his hush-money case by a judge who called him a "serial child molester" and ordered him to enroll in a sex-offender treatment program. "

When Dennis Hastert pleaded guilty last year to breaking banking laws, sentencing guidelines suggested that the former House speaker would probably serve no more than six months in prison for making illegal withdrawals to conceal a dark secret from his past.

But after prosecutors lifted a veil of secrecy from the case, the judge made comments that suggested he might impose a longer sentence, potentially putting Hastert behind bars for several years, because of allegations that he molested at least four student athletes when he was a high school wrestling coach.

Word that one of the accusers will speak at the sentencing hearing is sure to turn up the pressure on Judge Thomas M. Durkin to reject defense calls for probation and send the 74-year-old Republican to prison.

If that happens, Hastert, who was second in the line of succession to the presidency after the vice president and the nation's longest-serving GOP speaker, would become one of the highest ranking politicians in American history ever to be incarcerated.

Prosecutors have said they would have preferred to charge Hastert with a sex crime. But because the statute of limitations on sexual abuse ran out decades ago, they settled for banking violations. Hastert admitted evading financial regulations when he began withdrawing money to pay another victim $3.5 million to ensure his silence.

Source: Associated Press

FBI Whistle-blower Sibel Edmonds has been covering Hastert's story for many years:

In 2005, based on testimonies and evidence provided by no less than five credible government insiders, the Vanity Fair Magazine published a major exposé on Dennis Hastert’s criminal activities that included domestic and foreign bribery, money laundering, campaign financial fraud and even participation in Chicago underground drug networks.

At the time, in 2005, not a single US media outlet provided coverage for this massive exposé. Not a single sentence was written about this exposé, at the time involving the sitting Speaker of the House. Not a word.

[...] Other than a few blurbs here and there we have not seen much coverage on the Judge who is assigned to the Hastert Case. Considering the red flags going up all over this judge one can’t help but wonder why.

Thomas Durkin, the federal judge assigned to preside over the criminal case against Hastert has repeatedly donated to Hastert’s congressional campaigns, federal campaign finance records show.

[...] Judge Durkin made the donations while he was a partner at a private law firm, Mayer Brown. Guess what? The Chicago law firm of Mayer Brown happens to be where Hastert's son, Ethan Hastert, is an attorney.

takyon writes:

While SpaceX prepares its Falcon Heavy launch vehicle, newer companies are targeting smaller payloads:

[Aerospace veteran Jim] Cantrell left SpaceX in 2002, seeing the venture as too risky and unlikely to turn a profit. (It succeeded, he said, because Musk could not conceive of failure). However, even as SpaceX has become a dominant player in the large satellite launch industry, the small satellite industry has grown rapidly. The miniaturization of communications and imaging satellites has led to a new generation of rocket companies, such as Firefly Space Systems and Rocket Lab, which have built smaller launchers. Their rockets will generally heft payloads larger than 100kg into Sun-synchronous orbits 500km or higher.

Even with the rise of cubesats and other smaller technologies, payloads have continued to shrink. Over the last decade, Cantrell has watched this trend, seeing an opportunity to jump back into the launch business with a nano-satellite rocket. In late 2015, he called John Garvey, whose company Garvey Spacecraft Corporation had been working on such a rocket, and together they decided to found a new company called Vector. The company is developing a rocket with a reusable first stage that can deliver up to 25kg to a 400km Sun-synchronous orbit. Because of the groundwork already done by Garvey, Cantrell said Vector could begin orbital flights in 2018.

Also at TechCrunch.

Original Submission

n1 writes:

A massive database of Mexican voter records was made publicly accessible on the internet, a US security researcher has discovered. The names, addresses, dates of birth and voter ID numbers of 87 million Mexicans appeared to be listed in the cache.

It was discovered by Chris Vickery, who had been browsing unsecured databases, with a security tool called Shodan.

The voter data has since been taken offline.

Source: BBC

Original Submission

An Anonymous Coward writes:

US Uncut reports:

Original Submission

butthurt writes:

The attacker who broke into the computers of Hacking Team has written a narrative of the event, detailing the methods used. The write-up is available on pastebin in English (mirror) and in Spanish. (mirror).

Coverage:

• CSO Online
• Ars Technica
• Motherboard
• Computerworld

In other news about Hacking Team, the Financial Times reports (semi-paywalled) that Italy's ministry of economic development, citing "changed political circumstances" that may be related to Italian-Egyption relations in the wake of the murder of Giulio Regeni, has revoked the company's licence to export outside the EU.

Related stories:
Italian Security Firm "Hacking Team" Has Been Compromised
Hacking Team Complains That its Leaked Zero-Days Will be Misused

Original Submission

takyon writes:

The U.S. Senate is close to reaching a deal that will provide an additional $1.1 billion in funding to fight the Zika virus, on top of $510 million previously allocated to fighting the Ebola virus. However, the House of Representatives may not agree to provide the funding, and some Democratic Senators are holding out for $1.9 billion:

Senate negotiators on Tuesday moved closer to an agreement to provide at least $1.1 billion in emergency financing to combat the rapidly spreading Zika virus, which public health officials warn poses an imminent threat in the United States, but House Republicans said they were still not ready to approve additional funds.

[...] "This is an emergency," said Josh Earnest, the White House press secretary. "The American people are counting on Congress to act. And instead, we've gotten bureaucratic excuses." The administration first requested $1.9 billion in emergency financing to combat the Zika virus in February, but was rebuffed by congressional Republican leaders who urged the administration to redirect $510 million previously allocated to fight Ebola — a move that was made this month.

Senator Roy Blunt of Missouri, a Republican who has led negotiations for his party, said Tuesday that his talks with Senator Patty Murray of Washington, a Democrat, had produced the outlines of an agreement that would provide about $1.1 billion in additional financing.

[...] Senate Democratic leaders, including Ms. Murray, insisted on Tuesday that there was still no agreement, accused Republicans of stalling and said they were holding out for President Obama's full request of $1.9 billion. "There is no deal," the Senate Democratic leader, Harry Reid of Nevada, said at a news conference, thumping his hand on the lectern. "I haven't seen it. I don't know who has seen it. We have an outline of it, but it's not enough. We want $1.9 billion. That's what it takes."

Also at Bloomberg and The Hill. Reuters has a timeline about Zika's origins and spread.

[Continues...]

Sir Finkus writes:

I'm thrilled to report that the Soylent News Folding@Home team is now ranked among the top 1000 folding teams in the world! As of this submission, we are currently at rank 996. The team has been active for just over two months and has made impressive progress. Thank you to all who have participated.

Current team member rankings follow:

1. cmn32480
2. Beldin65
3. LTKKane
4. tibman
5. Kymation
6. meisterister
7. Runaway1956
8. kurenai.tsubasa
9. SirFinkus
10. NotSanguine

If you'd like additional information, or would like to join our team, there is more information available here, or feel free to join us in #folding on chat.soylentnews.org

Please note that the numbers across the different reporting sites are not exactly consistent. Team members may appear in different orders based on where and when the stats are viewed.

Thanks
-SirFinkus

Original Submission

takyon writes:

India will require a "panic button" on all new phones sold after January 1, 2017, and GPS in phones sold in 2018:

The country's department of telecommunications set up new rules released this week that require all low-tech feature phones to have a panic button configured to the number key 5 or 9 and all smartphones to have a feature that will engage when the on-off button is pressed three times.

Officials decided that having a physical "panic button" was faster than using an application for the mobile phone, Gandhi's ministry said. In addition, all mobile phones will be required to have GPS by 2018.

The Indian Cellular Association, which represents the cellphone industry, has expressed support for the plan, but "it remains unclear whether manufacturers like Apple would play ball," the daily Business Standard noted.

Concern over women's safety has been a public flash point in India since the fatal gang rape of a young student on a moving bus in 2012 galvanized protests around the country. Both the central and state governments as well as law enforcement have tried to address the issue — with varying degrees of success — by adding closed-circuit television cameras in public spaces, help lines and self-defense courses and increasing gender sensitivity training for police. Many of the safety features, such as panic buttons and GPS devices installed in public buses, are not working or have been stolen, activists say.

Also at Bloomberg.

Original Submission

takyon writes:

NASA's Hubble Space Telescope has been used to find a moon orbiting the dwarf planet Makemake:

The moon — provisionally designated S/2015 (136472) 1 and nicknamed MK 2 — is more than 1,300 times fainter than Makemake. MK 2 was seen approximately 13,000 miles from the dwarf planet, and its diameter is estimated to be 100 miles across. Makemake is 870 miles wide. The dwarf planet, discovered in 2005, is named for a creation deity of the Rapa Nui people of Easter Island.

[...] The observing team used the same Hubble technique to observe the moon as they did for finding the small satellites of Pluto in 2005, 2011, and 2012. Several previous searches around Makemake had turned up empty. "Our preliminary estimates show that the moon's orbit seems to be edge-on, and that means that often when you look at the system you are going to miss the moon because it gets lost in the bright glare of Makemake," said Alex Parker of Southwest Research Institute, Boulder, Colorado, who led the image analysis for the observations.

A moon's discovery can provide valuable information on the dwarf-planet system. By measuring the moon's orbit, astronomers can calculate a mass for the system and gain insight into its evolution. Uncovering the moon also reinforces the idea that most dwarf planets have satellites. "Makemake is in the class of rare Pluto-like objects, so finding a companion is important," Parker said. "The discovery of this moon has given us an opportunity to study Makemake in far greater detail than we ever would have been able to without the companion."

Original Submission

The Mighty Buzzard writes:

You were warned. Now it begins.

Since the implementation of Twitter's new algorithmic timeline back in February of this year, conservatives, libertarians and anti-establishment dissidents alike have been waiting for the social media platform to interfere in the current U.S. election cycle. Now it seems that there is clear evidence of Twitter censoring the current Republican front-runner, Donald Trump.

A tweet sent from Trump's account at 3:04 PM EDT yesterday is not visible from his timeline, even when showing "Tweets and replies." That message included a video wherein Trump declared that "the establishment and special interests are absolutely killing our country."At the time of this writing, the tweet is still publicly accessible via a direct link and thus has not been deleted either by Twitter or by someone operating on the Trump account.

This archive.is link has a copy of the timeline taken before this article was published which clearly shows the tweet not appearing where it should be — between a tweet sent at 12:10 PM EDT and one sent at 3:27 PM EDT; it is possible that the tweet may be reintroduced to the timeline in order to hide the manipulation.

Today it's one Trump tweet, tomorrow it will be you.

Original Submission

HughPickens.com writes:

Yoav Hollander has an interesting post at The Foretellix Blog about the rise of mostly-autonomous systems (MOAS), systems which are normally autonomous, but still have “operators standing by” for the infrequent-but-crucial moments when they are needed. According to Hollander, the main reason we will have mostly autonomous systems in the future is that it is much, much, much easier to automate (and verify) 97% of the required behavior than it is to automate 100%. Full autonomy is perhaps possible, but is really hard and some claim completely autonomous systems will never be achieved, percisely because of these rare-but-hard-to-handle cases. Even if it can be achieved eventually, economics and common-sense dictate that we’ll first go through this mostly-autonomous stage.

Some examples of mostly-autonomous systems already in use or development include airline pilots, automated answering services, chatbots, autonomous vehicles, and military robots. For example, Everybody and their brother are now creating chatbots based on machine learning (ML), which help in scheduling, pizza ordering and so on. "In the past two years, companies offering do-anything concierges (Magic, Facebook’s M, GoButler); shopping assistants (Operator, Mezi); and e-mail schedulers (X.ai, Clara) have sprung up. The goal for most of these businesses is to require as few humans as possible. People are expensive. They don’t scale. They need health insurance. But for now, the companies are largely powered by people, clicking behind the curtain and making it look like magic."

[Continues...]

The Mighty Buzzard writes:

In further gaming news Master of Orion has added linux support to their third Steam Early Access release. Highlights of this release are as follows:

• New playable races: Silicoid and Darlok
• Espionage: Train spies and assign them to offensive and defensive missions
• Minor Civilizations: interact with non-starfaring races to gain rewards, including influencing your diplomatic and economic victory paths
• New Victory condition: Fill your coffers and claim economic supremacy by controlling the Galactic Monetary Fund
• Weapon Miniaturization: Improve your legacy weapons by making them smaller and cheaper
• Support for Linux and SteamOS
• New galaxy size: HUGE
• More AI improvements
• Improved Multiplayer
• Improved Tactical Battles
• Improved overall balance: Better suited for both tall and wide empires and with a smoother progression in the late game
• Improved performance (faster turn processing and less hickups when zooming in and out of the galaxy)
• New and improved GNN gags
• By popular demand, we added the option to mute your advisors while still retaining other voiceover audio
• Over 400 bug fixes

we'll see...
Well, Linux-friendly titles have been appearing regularly for a while now. I guess we'll start to see if a dent can be made in Windows's market share on the gaming front. I'm personally not holding my breath but I wouldn't mind being surprised.

Original Submission