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An Anonymous Coward writes:

DNAinfo and Gothamist Are Shut Down After Vote to Unionize

A week ago, reporters and editors in the combined newsroom of DNAinfo and Gothamist, two of New York City's leading digital purveyors of local news, celebrated victory in their vote to join a union.

On Thursday, they lost their jobs, as Joe Ricketts, the billionaire founder of TD Ameritrade who owned the sites, shut them down.

At 5 p.m., a post went up on the sites from Mr. Ricketts announcing the decision. He praised them for reporting "tens of thousands of stories that have informed, impacted and inspired millions of people." But he added, "DNAinfo is, at the end of the day, a business, and businesses need to be economically successful if they are to endure."

[...] in the financially daunting era of digital journalism, there has been no tougher nut to crack than making local news profitable, a lesson Mr. Ricketts, who lost money every month of DNAinfo's existence, is just the latest to learn. In New York City, the nation's biggest media market, established organizations such as The Village Voice, The Wall Street Journal and The Daily News have slashed staff or withdrawn from street-level reporting. The Voice stopped publishing its print edition in September.

What about The Daily Planet and Gotham Globe?

Gothamist's NY Writing Staff Votes to Unionize; Owner Shutters All *ist Sites

-- OriginalOwner_ writes:

Deadspin reports:

Joe Ricketts, TD Ameritrade founder, billionaire, and father of Chicago Cubs chairman Tom Ricketts, shut down the local news network of DNAinfo and Gothamist sites today, a week after the writers voted to unionize.

[...] With the sites' articles functionally locked, the reported 115 newly jobless writers now have no clips [to which they can refer potential employers] as they search for work.

Deadspin has scathing comments about Ricketts's explanation for his action.

takyon writes:

Blizzard will make Starcraft II free-to-play starting November 14. The news was announced at BlizzCon 2017:

New multiplayer updates were revealed for StarCraft II as well. They will hit the game shortly after BlizzCon, addressing complaints regarding "underused units," and making support units more effective in smaller numbers. The changes also "promote more player control" regarding the game's state, and reduce sudden "game-ending moments." A detailed listing of the multiplayer changes can be found here.

The base Wings of Liberty campaign will be free, and those who already own the initial installment will get Heart of the Swarm for free.

Also at The Verge and Tom's Hardware.

Original Submission

takyon writes:

Wish you could get rid of bad memories? Scientists say they may have found the key

[Scientists] say they have found the key chemical that helps our brains inhibit [...] unwanted, intrusive memories [open, DOI: 10.1038/s41467-017-00956-z] [DX]. That's a big deal, because the discovery could help pioneer new ways to help people get past debilitating thoughts, according to a new study published in Nature Communications this week.

So what's the key? It's a neurotransmitter called GABA — a chemical in the brain that sends messages between nerve cells, according the study's author, Michael Anderson, a professor at the University of Cambridge. Anderson and the rest of his research team revealed in the study that GABA levels within the hippocampus — a vital part of the brain when it comes to memory — are strong predictors of whether or not you can block unwanted thoughts from resurfacing.

Think of GABA as foot soldiers in the hippocampus, Anderson said in a statement. Their mission? To block your intrusive thoughts. You and your brain's prefrontal cortex (the brain's "master regulator") are the commander of that brigade of neurotransmitter troops, the researchers wrote. But if you don't have enough GABA soldiers on the ground in your hippocampus to block the things your prefrontal cortex doesn't want to think about, you're probably going to keep thinking about them.

"When this capacity breaks down, it causes some of the most debilitating symptoms of psychiatric diseases — intrusive memories, images, hallucinations, ruminations, and pathological and persistent worries," Anderson said.

γ-Aminobutyric acid: That's another ingredient for my homebrewed soma mix.

Also at BBC and Newsweek.

Original Submission

takyon writes:

Google/Alphabet/Waymo's case against Uber has been dealt a setback following a number of unfavorable rulings:

A federal judge threw out a key trade-secret theft claim in the Alphabet Inc.'s unit lawsuit alleging that one of its former engineers schemed with the ride-hailing giant to steal critical know-how. The judge also rejected a technical analysis by one of Waymo's expert witnesses. In addition, he dismissed one of the defendants in the case, which will put more pressure on Waymo to prove that Uber itself engaged in misconduct independent of whether the engineer misappropriated proprietary information.

Legal experts said they can't read too much into the judge's ruling narrowing the list of trade secrets to be presented to a jury to eight from nine because many of the court documents describing the details of each secret are sealed from public view. The dismissal of the one claim won't reduce the $1.86 billion in damages Waymo is seeking because that figure is based on a different trade secret. Waymo was originally pursuing 121 separate claims but was ordered by Alsup to whittle them down to keep the case from becoming unwieldy.

[...] A spokesman for Uber said the rulings point to Waymo's "ever-shrinking case." [...] Waymo said in an emailed statement its inspections of Uber's devices, photos and digital drawings show Uber is using Waymo's trade secrets and copied its LiDAR designs "down to the micron."

Also at Recode and Ars Technica.

Previously: Waymo Drops Three of Four Patent Claims Against Uber
Text Messages Between Uber's Travis Kalanick and Anthony Levandowski Released
Waymo v. Uber Continues, Will Not Move to Arbitration
Alphabet Seeking $2.6 Billion in Damages From Uber

Related: Alphabet Leads $1 Billion Round of Investment in Lyft

Original Submission

takyon writes:

T-Mobile and Sprint, the third and fourth largest U.S. wireless carriers respectively, have called off merger talks, although they have left the door open in a joint statement:

Sprint Corp and T-Mobile US Inc said on Saturday they have called off merger talks to create a stronger U.S. wireless company to rival market leaders, leaving No. 4 provider Sprint to engineer a turnaround on its own.

The announcement marks the latest failed attempt to combine the third- and fourth-largest U.S. wireless carriers, as Sprint parent SoftBank Group Corp and T-Mobile parent Deutsche Telekom AG, show unwillingness to part with too much of their prized U.S. telecom assets. A combined company would have had more than 130 million U.S. subscribers, behind Verizon Communications Inc and AT&T Inc.

The failed merger could also help keep wireless prices low as all four providers have been heavily discounting their cellphone plans in a battle for consumers. "Consumers are better off without the merger because Sprint and T-Mobile will continue to compete fiercely for budget-conscious customers," said Erik Gordon, a Ross School of Business professor at the University of Michigan.

The companies' unusual step of making a joint announcement on the canceled negotiations could indicate they still recognize the merits of a merger, keeping the door open for potential future talks.

Also at Bloomberg, NYT, and Ars Technica.

Previously: Sprint: Purchase of T-Mobile Promotes Competition
Inside the Plan to Pull Sprint Out of its Death Spiral

Related: Sprint the Only US Telecomm to Challenge NSA
T-Mobile and Verizon Mobile Plans Change; Probably Not Better for Consumers
Are True Burner Phones Now Impossible in the USA?
T-Mobile's New 600 MHz Network Rollout Begins This Summer
Verizon Wireless Divides Unlimited Plan Into Three Worse Options

Original Submission

takyon writes:

Something is definitely going on in Saudi Arabia:

Saudi authorities arrested at least 11 princes, several current ministers and dozens of former ministers in a sweeping move reportedly designed to consolidate power for the son of King Salman bin Abdul-Aziz Al Saud. According to media reports citing Saudi-owned television network Al Arabiya, an anti-corruption committee ordered the arrests hours after King Salman directed the creation of the committee, headed by his favorite son and adviser, Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman.

The committee was established by the royal decree, The Associated Press reports, "due to the propensity of some people for abuse, putting their personal interest above public interest, and stealing public funds." Billionaire investor Prince Alwaleed bin Talal is among those detained, The Wall Street Journal reports. Alwaleed holds stakes in some of the world's major companies, including Apple and Twitter.

Remember Prince Alwaleed? Bitcoin could outlive him.

It's unclear what those arrested are accused of doing, but Al-Arabiya reported that new investigations into the 2009 Jeddah floods and 2012 MERS virus outbreak have been launched.

Separately, the heads of the Saudi National Guard and Saudi Royal Navy have also been replaced.

BBC notes that the reform faction is in control here:

BBC security correspondent Frank Gardner says Prince Mohammed is moving to consolidate his growing power while spearheading a reform programme. [...] Prince Mohammed recently said the return of "moderate Islam" was key to his plans to modernise Saudi Arabia. Addressing an economic conference in Riyadh, he vowed to "eradicate the remnants of extremism very soon". Last year, Prince Mohammed unveiled a wide-ranging plan to bring social and economic change to the oil-dependent kingdom.

Some Soylentils have been skeptical of Saudi Arabia's recent moves towards liberalization (some listed below). Has this apparent purge of internal political opposition changed your mind about the viability of these reforms?

takyon writes:

Richard Paulson, President of the American Society for Reproductive Medicine, has said that transgender women could give birth as soon as "tomorrow" using donated wombs:

Those born with male assigned sex organs cannot conceive children biologically; however, this may soon change, at least according to one fertility expert. Transgender women—those who were assigned male at birth—could give birth as early as "tomorrow," Richard Paulson, an obstetrician-gynecologist and the president of the American Society for Reproductive Medicine, said, according to The Telegraph. Thanks to advances in transgender medicine, donated wombs may be able to help transgender women conceive on their own, Paulson said during the society's annual conference in San Antonio, Texas.

Since at least 1999, transgender men have successfully given birth to healthy children, The Washington Post [archive] reports. More recently, Trystan Reese, a transgender man and his partner Biff Chaplow, gave birth to a healthy child last August. Despite their successes, the process is much more complex for transgender women. Primarily because a man's pelvis is a different shape than a woman's, making the birth much more complicated. Still, Paulson insists that it's possible, but notes the birth must be conducted via cesarean section.

"There would be additional challenges, but I don't see any obvious problem that would preclude it," Paulson said. "I personally suspect there are going to be trans women who are going to want to have a uterus and will likely get the transplant."

Paradise papers - leaked document trove show Trump officials, Queen Elizabeth's offshore tax dodges

c0lo writes:

While you were doing whatever you were doing last Sunday, the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists - the same that brought you the Panama papers less than two years ago revealed itself to be in the possession of a 13.4 million leaked documents on tax dodgers.

A trove of 13.4 million records exposes ties between Russia and U.S. President Donald Trump's billionaire commerce secretary, the secret dealings of the chief fundraiser for Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and the offshore interests of the queen of England and more than 120 politicians around the world.

The leaked documents, dubbed the Paradise Papers, show how deeply the offshore financial system is entangled with the overlapping worlds of political players, private wealth and corporate giants, including Apple, Nike, Uber and other global companies that avoid taxes through increasingly imaginative bookkeeping maneuvers.

One offshore web leads to Trump's commerce secretary, private equity tycoon Wilbur Ross, who has a stake in a shipping company that has received more than $68 million in revenue since 2014 from a Russian energy company co-owned by the son-in-law of Russian President Vladimir Putin.

In all, the offshore ties of more than a dozen Trump advisers, Cabinet members and major donors appear in the leaked data.

The new files come from two offshore services firms as well as from 19 corporate registries maintained by governments in jurisdictions that serve as waystations in the global shadow economy. The leaks were obtained by German newspaper Süddeutsche Zeitung and shared with the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists and a network of more than 380 journalists in 67 countries.

takyon writes:

Electronics retailer Best Buy, considered an Amazon competitor, will sell a limited selection of products through Amazon's Alexa:

In an odd turn for retail cooperation, Best Buy is now available on Alexa, Amazon's voice-powered digital assistant. Starting today, you can learn about and order Best Buy's Deal of the Day sales just by saying, "Alexa, talk to Best Buy." Sure, it seems odd to have a competing service on Amazon's own devices, but as the blog post from Best Buy points out, the big box store has been selling Amazon Alexa devices in a special section in about 700 of its stores earlier this year.

Best Buy is only the latest retailer to jump on the voice-shopping trend, too. Walmart and Target both offer home shopping via Google Assistant.

Also at CNET and eSellerCafe.

Original Submission

takyon writes:

A couple of the people deciding the fate of new emojis in the Unicode standards are upset over the latest pile of crap:

The argument over the emoji is between developers working with the Emoji Subcommittee of the Unicode Consortium, the nonprofit corporation that develops, maintains and promotes software internationalization standards. The committee is currently considering implementing a number of new emojis next year, but the frowning poo emoji alone has caused some members to become rather upset.

According to documents obtained by Buzzfeed, objections have been made on the grounds that the proposed emoji is a poor choice. "Organic waste isn't cute ... It is bad enough that the [Emoji Subcommittee] came up with it, but it beggars belief that the [Unicode Technical Committee] actually approved it ... The idea that our 5 committees would sanction further cute graphic characters based on this should embarrass absolutely everyone who votes yes on such an excrescence," one person wrote. "Will we have a CRYING PILE OF POO next? PILE OF POO WITH TONGUE STICKING OUT? PILE OF POO WITH QUESTION MARKS FOR EYES? PILE OF POO WITH KARAOKE MIC?"

Another person wrote, "I'm concerned that this character will open the floodgates for an open-ended set of PILE OF POO emoji with emotions, such as CRYING PILE OF POO, PILE OF POO WITH LOOK OF TRIUMPH, PILE OF POO SCREAMING IN FEAR, etc. Is there really any need to add a range of emotions to PILE OF POO? I personally think that changing PILE OF POO to a de facto SMILING PILE OF POO was wrong, but adding F|FROWNING PILE OF POO as a counterpart is even worse. If this is accepted then there will be no neutral, expressionless PILE OF POO, so at least a PILE OF POO WITH NO FACE would be required to be encoded to restore some balance."

I linked the Unicode 11 emoji candidates last time, but did not notice Frowning Pile Of Poo. This could be solved if they allowed any emoji to be used as a modifier for another emoji. Bar Of Soap + Frowning Pile Of Poo = Frowning Clean Pile of Poo or Frowning Poo-Covered Bar of Soap.

Also at Boing Boing.

Previously: Apple's New iPhone X will let You Control the Poo Emoji with Your Face
Google CEO Drops Everything to Fix Cheeseburger Emoji

Original Submission

takyon writes:

An internal investigation of the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies response to the recent Ebola epidemic uncovered an estimated $6 million of fraud committed by its workers:

The Red Cross has uncovered several cases of fraud by officials during efforts to combat the Ebola outbreak that struck West Africa in 2014-2016, estimating losses of $6-million (5.2 million euros). In a statement, the Geneva-based International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC) said it was "outraged", and said it would "ensure any staff involved are held to account."

[...] In Sierra Leone, it said it had found evidence of "likely collusion" between former IFRC employees and a bank, leading to a potential loss of $2.1-million. Overbilling and fake invoices by a provider of customs clearance services in Guinea cost the organisation $1.2 million, and two other investigations in the country are under way. The IFRC also said it had previously found that in Liberia, inflated prices for relief items and payroll costs had cost it $2.7 million.

Also at DW
And Ebola aid money fraud: Red Cross statement.

Original Submission

An Anonymous Coward writes:

NASA: Ozone hole smallest it's been since 1988

NASA and the US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration have been monitoring the ozone hole since it was first discovered in 1985. The agencies use satellites, weather balloons and ground-based instruments to study and track the hole. The ozone hole changes throughout the year and reached its 2017 peak size on Sept. 11 at the end of the region's wintertime.

Scientists weren't surprised by the size of the hole this year. "This is what we would expect to see given the weather conditions in the Antarctic stratosphere," says Paul A. Newman, a scientist at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center. NASA cites warmer global temperatures as a factor in reducing the hole.

But don't get too excited. NASA says the smaller hole "is due to natural variability and not a signal of rapid healing." The ozone hole still covered 7.6 million square miles (nearly 20 million square kilometers), or over two and a half times the size of Australia. Still, scientists are optimistic about the ozone hole eventually healing over time.

Original Submission

Runaway1956 writes:

PDF warning - the entire report is in the from of a PDF. To get your copy, clicky the linky:

https://assets.documentcloud.org/documents/4165160/USS-Fitzgerald-and-USS-John-S-McCain-Collision.pdf

The collisions were avoidable between USS FITZGERALD (DDG 62) and Motor Vessel ACX CRYSTAL, and between USS JOHN S MCCAIN (DDG 56) and Motor Vessel ALNIC MC. Three U.S. Navy investigations concerning each of these incidents are complete.

[...] USS FITZGERALD collided with Motor Vessel ACX CRYSTAL on 17 June 2017 in the waters of Sagami Wan in vicinity of the approaches to Tokyo Wan. [...] The Navy determined that numerous failures occurred on the part of leadership and watchstanders as follows:

• Failure to plan for safety.
• Failure to adhere to sound navigation practice.
• Failure to execute basic watch standing practices.
• Failure to properly use available navigation tools.
• Failure to respond deliberately and effectively when in extremis.

[...] USS JOHN S MCCAIN collided with Motor Vessel ALNIC MC on 21 August 2017 in the Straits of Singapore. [...] The collision between JOHN S MCCAIN and ALNIC resulted in the deaths of 10 U.S. Sailors due to impact with MCCAIN's berthing compartments, located below the waterline of the ship. [...] The Navy determined the following causes of the collision:

• Loss of situational awareness in response to mistakes in the operation of the JOHN S MCCAIN's steering and propulsion system, while in the presence of a high density of maritime traffic.
• Failure to follow the International Nautical Rules of the Road, a system of rules to govern the maneuvering of vessels when risk of collision is present.
• Watchstanders operating the JOHN S MCCAIN's steering and propulsion systems had insufficient proficiency and knowledge of the systems.

The report, in it's entirety, is 72 pages long. There are a lot of details about how, precisely, the accidents happened. There are also photos in the PDF, before and after the respective events. The reports are damning. As already summarized, inattentive, and poorly trained officers were in charge of evolutions which they seem to have poorly understood.

[takyon: The inquiry is reported on by Navy.mil, NYT, Reuters, and Ars Technica.]

Grishnakh writes:

At various resorts in Mexico, multiple tourists have claimed to have been sexually assaulted, served spiked drinks that caused blackouts, or that the resorts refused to call police. However, TripAdvisor has been removing negative reviews written by these people:

Since July, when the Journal Sentinel began investigating the mysterious death of a Wisconsin college student in Mexico — and found widespread problems with tainted alcohol, derelict law enforcement and price gouging from hospitals — more than a dozen travelers from across the country have said TripAdvisor muzzled their first-hand stories of blackouts, rapes and other ways they were injured while vacationing in Mexico.

[...] The company's policies and practices obscure the public's ability to fully evaluate the information on its site. Secret algorithms determine which hotels and resorts appear when consumers search. Some hotels pay TripAdvisor when travelers click on their links; some pay commissions when tourists book or travel.

An untold number of TripAdvisor users have been granted special privileges, including the ability to delete forum posts. But the company won't disclose how those users are selected.

takyon: The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel broke the story (broader investigation here). TripAdvisor has apologized for at least one forum post removal and has restored a deleted account of rape at an Iberostar resort in Riviera Maya, Mexico. They evidently had no difficulty in restoring a deleted forum post written in 2010.

Original Submission

bradley13 writes:

Diehard fans turn virtual teen singer into Japanese mega-star

She wears extremely short skirts, sports blue pigtails to her knees and has the boundless energy of a playful puppy. During her 10-year career, she's released more than 100,000 songs in a variety of languages and opened shows for Lady Gaga. And yet Hatsune Miku, who boasts 2.5 million Facebook followers, doesn't actually exist — at least not in the typical way we think of a flesh-and-blood diva. Miku is a computer-simulated pop star created more than a decade ago by Hiroyuki Ito, CEO of Crypton Future Media in Sapporo, Japan.

A virtual music star, driven by fans and voice-synthesis software. Here's a sample video, if you're curious. I can't judge the voice, since I don't speak japanese, but the animation is remarkably good.

takyon: Wikipedia for Hatsune Miku and Vocaloid. Have some fun with Miku! meme (YTP version. Warning: Gets LOUD).

News? Maybe not. However, you're on the right track:

• The Ultimate Escapism
• Logitech is experimenting with a keyboard built for virtual reality
• Virtual reality could be the answer to treating phantom pain (Opioids Haven't Solved Chronic Pain. Maybe Virtual Reality Can)
• VR developers pivot to location-based entertainment
• Watch J-Pop Dance Trio Perfume's Virtual Reality Music Video Ad for Panasonic
• All hail the Godbot: In Silicon Valley artificial intelligence isn't just king, it's literally a new religion
• Sex Robot Samantha Will Free Humanity From Work, Says Its Creator (Sex robot creator claims demand is so high he wants to start mass producing Samantha heads)

Related: Rapper Chief Keef to Use "Hologram" to Perform For Benefit Concert
The Robot Rock Band, Want to Build a Vocalist
Gatebox: Your New Holographic AI Assistant "Waifu"

Original Submission

Federal authorities are responding to a shooting at the First Baptist Church in Sutherland Springs, Texas, a small community southeast of San Antonio.

In a press conference Sunday night, an official from the Texas Department of Public Safety described the scene: Around 11:20 am, the suspect, dressed in black, approached the church and began firing an assault rifle. He then entered the church and continued firing.

Gov. Greg Abbott confirmed that at least 26 people were killed. A Texas Department of Public Safety official said the ages of the victims ranged from 5 to 72 years old. The AP reports that the pastor's 14-year-old daughter is among the dead.

The Department of Public Safety confirmed to NPR that at least 20 others were wounded. A DPS official said in the press conference that the gunman was confronted by an armed civilian outside of the church.

The shooter, who was found dead in neighboring Guadalupe County, has been identified as Devin Kelley, 26, a former Air Force member.

An Anonymous Coward writes:

The antiX Linux project announced version 17 of its distribution:

The developers of the Debian-based antiX GNU/Linux distribution announced the release of antiX 17, dubbed "Heather Heyer" and based on the Debian GNU/Linux 9.2 "Stretch" operating system.

antiX 17 follows the trend of previous versions to offer users an operating system that does not include the widely used systemd init system. With this release, Gentoo's eudev device file manager for the Linux kernel is used by default instead of udev.

Source: Softpedia News

Eudev is a fork of udev, made by the Gentoo project to avoid dependency on systemd.

Also at It's Foss and Distrowatch.

Related: Q4OS: A Very Flexible Linux Distro - Review

Original Submission