SoylentNews

canopic jug writes:

Hugo Landau has written a blog post about why Intel will never let hardware owners control the Management Engine. The Intel Managment Engine (ME) is a secondary microprocessor ensconced in recent Intel x86 chips, running an Intel-signed, proprietary, binary blob which provides remote access over the network as well as direct access to memory and peripherals. Because of the code signing restrictions enforced by the hardware, it cannot be modified or replaced by the user.

Intel/AMD will never allow machine owners to control the code executing on the ME/PSP because they have decided to build a business on preventing you from doing so. In particular, it's likely that they're actually contractually obligated not to let you control these processors.

The reason is that Intel literally decided to collude with Hollywood to integrate DRM into their CPUs; they conspired with media companies to lock you out of certain parts of your machine. After all, this is the company that created HDCP.

This DRM functionality is implemented on the ME/PSP. Its ability to implement DRM depends on you not having control over it, and not having control over the code that runs on it. Allowing you to control the code running on the ME would directly compromise an initiative which Intel has been advancing for over a decade.

Original Submission

An Anonymous Coward writes:

New Peacock Spiders Discovered:

On a trip trudging through the wet and cold of southern Western Australia last year, Jurgen Otto rediscovered a dancing spider dubbed the Hokey Pokey.

And in the process, he stumbled across a species never before classified.

Along with his colleague David Knowles, Dr Otto has discovered most of the 70 known species of peacock spider — and he loves them.

It's because, he says, they're more like dogs or cats, or people, than spiders.

"They're very charming animals. They've got these big eyes, and it's very easy to like them ... I've often compared them to puppies and kittens."

"They're curious, they get excited, they push themselves up on their legs to see better, they crouch down and hide.

"They're not like a grasshopper or something that just doesn't show any [emotion], they're more like us than other invertebrates."

[...] In a paper published this week in the journal Pekhamia [PDF-88.7MB], Dr Otto and his colleague David Hill officially gave a name to the Hokey Pokey: Maratus tortus, with "tortus" being Latin for "twisted".

[...] He's put together a website in his spare time with photos documenting each of the species.

Original Submission

MrPlow writes:

Submitted via IRC for AndyTheAbsurd

The DARPA Robotics Challenge was a showcase for how very large, very expensive robots could potentially be useful in disaster recovery and high-risk environments. Humanoids are particularly capable in some very specific situations, but the rest of the time, they're probably overkill, and using smaller, cheaper, more specialized robots is much more efficient.

[...] Yesterday, DARPA announced a new program called SHRIMP: SHort-Range Independent Microrobotic Platforms. The goal is "to develop and demonstrate multi-functional micro-to-milli robotic platforms for use in natural and critical disaster scenarios." To enable robots that are both tiny and useful, SHRIMP will support fundamental research in the component parts that are the most difficult to engineer, including actuators, mobility systems, and power storage.

[...] One of our favorite things about DARPA programs like these is their competitive nature, and SHRIMP is no exception. Both components and integrated robots will compete in "a series of Olympic-themed competitions [for] multi-functional mm-to-cm scale robotic platforms," performing tasks "associated with maneuverability, dexterity, [and] manipulation." DARPA will be splitting the competition into two parts: one for actuators and power sources, and the other for complete robots.

[...] DARPA has US $32 million of funding to spread around across multiple projects for SHRIMP. Abstracts are due August 10, proposals are due September 26, and the competition could happen as early as March of next year.

Source: https://spectrum.ieee.org/automaton/robotics/robotics-hardware/darpa-wants-your-insect-scale-robots-for-a-micro-olympics

Original Submission

JoeMerchant writes:

NASA scientists have demonstrated FluidCam as a drone based solution to provide sharp, clear imagery of coral reefs from a drone's eye view.

Watch the video, write your own transcripts, summaries and criticisms in the comments. It's image processing, it's drone based, they're working toward making it satellite based. I want to know how well it deals with moving objects in the field of view (like fish), but now that the reefs are mostly dead or dying I guess there aren't that many fish on them to worry about anymore? There certainly weren't any fish in the pictures on the video.

Bonus points to the first comment that links to some hard science papers on the topic, the link above is just a NASA "gee isn't this cool" video.

Original Submission

MrPlow writes:

Submitted via IRC for BoyceMagooglyMonkey

Anyone can track a Venmo user's purchase history and glean a detailed profile – including their drug deals, eating habits and arguments – because the payment app lacks default privacy protections.

This was the finding of a Berlin-based researcher, Hang Do Thi Duc, who analysed the more than 200 million public Venmo transactions made in 2017. Her aim was to highlight the privacy risk from using a seemingly innocuous peer-to-peer app.

By accessing the data through a public application programming interface, Do Thi Duc was able to see the names of every user who hadn't changed their settings to private, along with the dates of every transaction and the message sent with the payment. This allowed her to explore the lives of unsuspecting Venmo users and learn "an alarming amount about them".

The default state for transactions when a user signs up to the app is "public", which means they can be seen by anyone on the internet. Users can change this to "private" by navigating to the app's settings, but it's not clearly highlighted during sign-up.

Source: https://www.theguardian.com/world/2018/jul/17/venmo-payments-app-default-privacy-settings-public-information

Original Submission

MrPlow writes:

Submitted via IRC for AndyTheAbsurd

Mobile internet speeds are blazing fast these days thanks to 4G LTE, and they are about to get even faster with the impending roll-out of 5G. Not all carriers are created equally, however. In a new study by Ookla -- of Speedtest.net fame -- it is discovered that T-Mobile offers the fastest mobile internet overall in the USA. As you can expect, Sprint is dead last.

Ookla didn't just rank carriers, but cities too. After all, speed can vary by location since performance can be impacted by number of towers, terrain, and other factors. Shockingly, the overall fastest city in the USA is not New York or Los Angeles, but Minneapolis -- located in the cold state of Minnesota.

"While you may expect a bustling coastal city or carrier's headquarters to take first prize for fastest city out of the 100 studied (by population), it was Minneapolis that was awarded the title thanks to having the fastest mean download speed over mobile. This year, the twin cities edged out Fort Wayne to take the number one and two spots, followed by San Francisco and Irvine surpassing Atlanta and Pittsburg in the fourth and fifth place spots,"says Ookla.

Source: https://betanews.com/2018/07/18/tmobile-carrier-fast-usa/

Original Submission

MrPlow writes:

Submitted via IRC for AndyTheAbsurd

Experts were able to simulate the mechanism that stabilizes plasma in fusion reactors. This development could take humankind one step closer to a clean, unlimited source of fusion energy.

So...practical commercial fusion is still 50 years way (just like it's been for the past 60 years), right?

Source: https://www.techtimes.com/articles/232452/20180719/scientists-discover-how-to-stabilize-plasma-in-fusion-reactors.htm

Original Submission

Arthur T Knackerbracket has found the following story:

Last week, the world was riveted by the successful rescue of a youth soccer team as they and their coach were pulled out of a flooded cave in Thailand. The team had been stranded on a narrow rock shelf in the dark for two weeks, the way out blocked by turbid stormwater. The rescue involved far more than a few divers putting on gear and heading into the cave—it required a tremendous amount of technical skill and posed extreme danger.

But why, exactly, was it so dangerous? And what would it feel like to dive in those kinds of conditions?

But to answer the second question, I decided to open my logbook and go back to a dive from many years ago—well before I was diving professionally. As a few select passages below highlight, this was a dive where things almost went fatally wrong.

-- submitted from IRC

Original Submission

Arthur T Knackerbracket has found the following story:

This May, sleuths at IEEE Spectrum revealed something exciting -- Facebook appeared to be secrely working on an experimental satellite that could beam internet down to Earth using millimeter wave radio signals.

Now, Facebook has confirmed to Wired and CNET that the satellite, dubbed Athena, is indeed a Facebook project -- and that Facebook is a believer in satellite internet technology.

"While we have nothing to share about specific projects at this time, we believe satellite technology will be an important enabler of the next generation of broadband infrastructure, making it possible to bring broadband connectivity to rural regions where internet connectivity is lacking or non-existent," a Facebook spokesperson told CNET and Wired.

But Wired does have more to share about this specific project. Using a Freedom of Information Act request, Wired says it obtained emails from the FCC that reportedly show Facebook plans to launch the Athena satellite in early 2019. In space launch terms, that's coming up pretty dang fast.

Original Submission

takyon writes:

Ecuador Will Imminently Withdraw Asylum for Julian Assange and Hand Him Over to the UK. What Comes Next?

Ecuador's President Lenin Moreno traveled to London on Friday for the ostensible purpose of speaking at the 2018 Global Disabilities Summit (Moreno has been using a wheelchair since being shot in a 1998 robbery attempt). The concealed, actual purpose of the President's trip is to meet with British officials to finalize an agreement under which Ecuador will withdraw its asylum protection of Julian Assange, in place since 2012, eject him from the Ecuadorian Embassy in London, and then hand over the WikiLeaks founder to British authorities.

takyon writes:

Google, Facebook, Microsoft, and Twitter partner for ambitious new data project

Today, Google, Facebook, Microsoft, and Twitter joined to announce a new standards initiative called the Data Transfer Project, designed as a new way to move data between platforms. In a blog post, Google described the project as letting users "transfer data directly from one service to another, without needing to download and re-upload it."

The current version of the system supports data transfer for photos, mail, contacts, calendars, and tasks, drawing from publicly available APIs from Google, Microsoft, Twitter, Flickr, Instagram, Remember the Milk, and SmugMug. Many of those transfers could already be accomplished through other means, but participants hope the project will grow into a more robust and flexible alternative to conventional APIs. In its own blog post, Microsoft called for more companies to sign onto the effort, adding that "portability and interoperability are central to cloud innovation and competition."

Also at 9to5Google.

Original Submission

An Anonymous Coward writes:

https://9to5mac.com/2018/07/21/india-anti-spam-app-revision/amp/

The India Telecom Regulatory Authority, or TRAI, has introduced a new revision to its policy focused on reducing spam calls and text messages in the country. Part of that policy is a requirement that carriers allow customers to download a 'Do Not Disturb' application that would let them report spam calls and messages.

Apple, however, has long refused to allow the application on the App Store over privacy concerns. Essentially, the app would require access to call and message logs, which Apple was not willing to offer.

This week, however, TRAI published new regulations that mandate all customers be allowed to install the Do Not Disturb application on their device, whether they use iPhone or iPad. TRAI explained that companies and carriers have six months to ensure all smartphone devices allow the application, as reported by India Today.

If companies like Apple continue to resist the Indian government's anti-spam app, TRAI says it will force carriers to remove those devices from their networks. This means that, theoretically, all iPhones would lose access to 3G, 4G, and voice service

Original Submission

takyon writes:

Western Digital Begins to Sample QLC BiCS4: 1.33 Tbit 96-Layer 3D NAND

Western Digital has started sampling its 96-layer 3D NAND chips featuring QLC architecture that stores four bits per cell. The chip happens to be the world's highest-capacity 3D NAND device. The company expects to commence volume shipments of this memory chip already this calendar year.

Western Digital's 96-layer BICS4 3D QLC NAND chip can store up to 1.33 Tb of raw data, or around 166 GB. The IC will be initially used for consumer products Western Digital sells under the SanDisk brand, so think of memory cards (e.g., high-capacity SD and microSD products), USB drives, and some other devices. The manufacturer expects its 3D QLD[sic] NAND memory to be used in a variety of applications, including retail, mobile, embedded, client, and enterprise, but does not elaborate on timing at this point.

The 1.33-Tb BICS4 IC is Western Digital's second-gen 3D QLC NAND device. Last year the company announced its BICS3 64-layer 3D QLC chips featuring a 768 Gb capacity, but it is unclear whether they have ever been used for commercial products. Meanwhile, it is clear that the device was used to learn about 3D QLC behavior in general (i.e., endurance, read errors, retention, etc.)

[...] What is noteworthy is that officially the BiCS4 range was to include both TLC and QLC ICs with capacities ranging from 256 Gb to 1 Tb, so the 1.33 Tb IC is a surprising addition to the lineup which signals Western Digital's confidence of its technology.

Recent products have been using 512 Gb per die NAND, with 768 Gb and 1 Tb on the horizon. Samsung's announced 128 TB SSD was supposed to use 1 Tb 3D QLC dies, so ~1.33 Tb dies could bring that capacity to about 170 TB. Given a couple more generations of NAND or some fancy die/package stacking, and we will probably see a 1 petabyte SSD.

Arthur T Knackerbracket has found the following story:

Did the Stars and Stripes on the moon signify the establishment of an American colony?

Most likely, this is the best-known picture of a flag ever taken: Buzz Aldrin standing next to the first U.S. flag planted on the Moon. For those who knew their world history, it also rang some alarm bells. Only less than a century ago, back on Earth, planting a national flag in another part of the world still amounted to claiming that territory for the fatherland. Did the Stars and Stripes on the moon signify the establishment of an American colony?

[...] Still, the simple answer to the question of whether Armstrong and Aldrin by way of their small ceremony did transform the moon, or at least a major part thereof, into U.S. territory turns out to be “no.” They, nor NASA, nor the U.S. government intended the U.S. flag to have that effect.

Most importantly, that answer was enshrined in the 1967 Outer Space Treaty, to which both the United States and the Soviet Union as well as all other space-faring nations, had become a party. Both superpowers agreed that “colonization” on Earth had been responsible for tremendous human suffering and many armed conflicts that had raged over the last centuries. They were determined not to repeat that mistake of the old European colonial powers when it came to decide on the legal status of the moon; at least the possibility of a “land grab” in outer space giving rise to another world war was to be avoided. By that token, the moon became something of a “global commons” legally accessible to all countries—two years prior to the first actual manned moon landing.

So, the U.S. flag was not a manifestation of claiming sovereignty, but of honoring the U.S. taxpayers and engineers who made Armstrong, Aldrin, and third astronaut Michael Collins’ mission possible. The two men carried a plaque that they “came in peace for all mankind,” and of course Neil’s famous words echoed the same sentiment: his “small step for man” was not a “giant leap” for the United States, but “for mankind.” Furthermore, the United States and NASA lived up to their commitment by sharing the moon rocks and other samples of soil from the lunar surface with the rest of the world, whether by giving them away to foreign governments or by allowing scientists from all over the globe to access them for scientific analysis and discussion. In the midst of the Cold War, this even included scientists from the Soviet Union.

Case closed, no need for space lawyers anymore then? No need for me to prepare University of Nebraska-Lincoln’s space law students for further discussions and disputes on the lunar law, right?

Arthur T Knackerbracket has found the following story:

Alphabet's Loon project said Thursday that its balloons will bring internet to remote parts of Kenya next year.

This'll be the project's first deal in Africa, Reuters reports, and it'll see Loon working with Telkom Kenya to get high-speed internet to the East African country's rural and suburban populations.

Loon became its own company only last week -- having started in 2016 as a project at X, Google parent Alphabet's research-and-development facility. It uses high-flying balloons powered by on-board solar panels as Wi-Fi carriers to deliver signals from above.

The balloons float at 60,000 feet (20 km) above sea level -- high over air traffic, wildlife and weather events.

[...] Last year, Alphabet teamed with AT&T to bring limited internet access to storm-ravaged Puerto Rico.

-- submitted from IRC

Original Submission