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An Anonymous Coward writes:

Deadline reports:

FCC Chairman Ajit Pai [...] defended his decision to refer Sinclair Broadcast Group's proposed $3.9 billion acquisition of Tribune Media to an administrative law judge for review.

[...] Central to the review is how Sinclair presented its plans to divest stations in Chicago, Dallas and Houston in order [to] gain regulatory approval. Those so-called "sidecar" deals could enable Sinclair to effectively continue operating the stations, Pai [link removed] said, in violation of federal rules.

MrPlow writes:

Submitted via IRC for TheRealLuciusSulla

Emperor's 2019 exit will be first era change of information age, and switchover could be as big as Y2K say industry figures

[...] On 30 April 2019, Emperor Akihito of Japan is expected to abdicate the chrysanthemum throne. The decision was announced in December 2017 so as to ensure an orderly transition to Akihito's son, Naruhito, but the coronation could cause concerns in an unlikely place: the technology sector.

The Japanese calendar counts up from the coronation of a new emperor, using not the name of the emperor, but the name of the era they herald. Akihito's coronation in January 1989 marked the beginning of the Heisei era, and the end of the Shōwa era that preceded him; and Naruhito's coronation will itself mark another new era.

But that brings problems. For one, Akihito has been on the throne for almost the entirety of the information age, meaning that many systems have never had to deal with a switchover in era. For another, the official name of Naruhito's era has yet to be announced, causing concern for diary publishers, calendar printers and international standards bodies.

It's why some are calling it "Japan's Y2K problem".

"The magnitude of this event on computing systems using the Japanese Calendar may be similar to the Y2K event with the Gregorian Calendar," said Microsoft's Shawn Steele. "For the Y2K event, there was world-wide recognition of the upcoming change, resulting in governments and software vendors beginning to work on solutions for that problem several years before 1 Jan 2000. Even with that preparation many organisations encountered problems due to the millennial transition.

[...] A much harder problem faces Unicode, the international standards organisation which most famously controls the introduction of new emojis to the world. Since Japanese computers use one character to represent the entire era name (compressing Heisei into ㍻ rather than 平成, for instance), Unicode needs to set the standard for that new character. But it can't do that until it knows what it's called, and it won't know that until late February at best. Unfortunately, version 12 of Unicode is due to come out in early March, which means it needs to be finished before then, and can't be delayed.

Source: https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2018/jul/25/big-tech-warns-japan-millennium-bug-y2k-emperor-akihito-abdication

Original Submission

canopic jug writes:

Daniel Stenberg, author of the ubiquitous URL fetcher cURL and the libcurl multiprotocol file transfer library, and recipient of the 2017 Polheim Prize, has been blocked again from attending a US-based conference. Daniel has written a post in his blog about his two-year odyssey through the byzantine US bureaucracy to try to get permission to attend a work-related conference in California. He has been in the US nine times previously but despite pages of paperwork, hundreds of dollars in fees, and personal visits to the embassy, no dice. As a result the conference will have to move outside the US and probably Canada too if it wants to stay open to the world's top talent.

Earlier on SN:
US Visa Applications May Soon Require Five Years of Social Media Info (2018)
Reducing Year 2038 Problems in curl (2018)
cURL turns Seventeen Today (2015)

Original Submission

MrPlow writes:

Submitted via IRC for TheMightyBuzzard

If you have ever worked in software-related industries, the chances are that the word “Rockstar” will elicit a visceral reaction. It’s a word used by a Certain Type Of Manager for an elite software developer who’s so 1337 they don’t play by the rules of ordinary mortals. In reality it’s use is invariably an indication of trouble ahead, either from clueless startups or troublesome rockstar developers making a toxic atmosphere for the mere members of the backing band. Hackaday has a team that brings together a huge breadth of experience, and we’ve been there.

Think I'll stick to being a roadie developer. You know, get my job done so other people can do theirs.

Source: https://hackaday.com/2018/07/28/become-the-rockstar-developer-youve-always-dreamed-of-being/

Original Submission

Arthur T Knackerbracket has found the following story:

A new species of spiky-headed dinosaurs has been discovered in Utah, the oldest of its genus ever found in North America. Akainacephalus johnsoni is 75 million years and like its cousin, the Ankylosaurus, had an armored body and an imposing club tail.

The dinosaur's scientific journey began 10 years ago in 2008, when a paleontologist with the Bureau of Land Management found what appeared to be a fossil site at the Kaiparowits Formation of Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument. A hotbed of prehistoric discovery, the Kaiparowits has been called "dinosaur Shangri La." The National Momument was recently shrunk through an order from President Trump, and some of its former land has now been purchased by a mining company.

Original Submission

MrPlow writes:

Submitted via IRC for AndyTheAbsurd

[...] Artists entertaining at specific spaces along the Royal Mile will be equipped with special readers to take fixed-amount payments.

It comes after feedback which noted a drop in the number of people carrying cash.

[...] Street performer Scott Hutchison said: "Until now, I've relied on cash contributions from audiences and I have definitely noticed a dip as the number of people carrying cash has decreased.

Source: Street Performers to Take Contactless Tips at Edinburgh Fringe

Original Submission

Arthur T Knackerbracket has found the following story:

Amelia Earhart's final moments may have been broadcast around the world days after her plane disappeared in 1937, according to a group that analyzed radio distress calls.

The International Group for Historic Aircraft Recovery (TIGHAR) believes the aviation pioneer waded out to her crashed Lockheed Electra on the reef at the then-uninhabited Gardner Island to call for help, it wrote in a research paper.

[...] The Electra's radio could only communicate within a few hundred miles, but the transmitter also put out harmonics that allowed the signal to reach beyond that.

"High harmonic frequencies 'skip' off the ionosphere and can carry great distances, but clear reception is unpredictable," the paper says.

As a result, the signal was heard by people using shortwave radios at home in locations like Texas, Kentucky, Wyoming, Florida and Toronto.

In St. Petersburg, Florida, a teenage girl  transcribed phrases like: "waters high," "water's knee deep -- let me out"  and "help us quick," the Washington Post notes.

-- submitted from IRC

Original Submission

Arthur T Knackerbracket has found the following (paywalled) story:

July 26, 2018

Starbucks Corp. must pay employees for off-the-clock work such as closing and locking stores, the California Supreme Court ruled on Thursday in a decision that could have broad implications for companies that employ workers paid by the hour across the state.

The decision is a departure from a federal standard that gives employers greater leeway to deny workers’ compensation for short tasks, such as putting on a uniform, that are performed before they clock in or after they clock out.

More details are available from pbs.org:

The ruling came in a lawsuit by a Starbucks employee, Douglas Troester, who argued that he was entitled to be paid for the time he spent closing the store after he had clocked out.

Troester said he activated the store alarm, locked the front door and walked co-workers to their cars — tasks that required him to work for four to 10 additional minutes a day.

An attorney for Starbucks referred comment to the company. Starbucks did not immediately have comment.

A U.S. District Court rejected Troester’s lawsuit on the grounds that the time he spent on those tasks was minimal. But the California Supreme Court said a few extra minutes of work each day could “add up.”

Troester was seeking payment for 12 hours and 50 minutes of work over a 17-month period. At $8 an hour, that amounts to $102.67, the California Supreme Court said.

“That is enough to pay a utility bill, buy a week of groceries, or cover a month of bus fares,” Associate Justice Goodwin Liu wrote. “What Starbucks calls ‘de minimis’ is not de minimis at all to many ordinary people who work for hourly wages.”

-- submitted from IRC

Original Submission

realDonaldTrump writes:

"Shareholders of Walt Disney Co. and 21st Century Fox approved the $71 billion deal between the two companies on Friday, clearing another hurdle for a deal that will rattle the media and entertainment landscape and could inspire a wave of similar tie-ups."

wsj.com/articles/shareholders-approve-disneys-acquisition-of-fox-entertainment-assets-1532701190
NOTE: Paywalled.

Also at c|net:

Fox shareholders on Friday approved the sale of its entertainment assets to Disney for $71.3 billion, reported Bloomberg. Both companies' investors reportedly approved in separate votes at the New York Hilton Midtown in Manhattan.

Fox agreed to Disney's bid earlier in June and rejected Comcast's $65 million cash offer. 21st Century Fox is home to popular franchises such as X-Men, Deadpool, The Simpsons, Ice Age and Planet of the Apes. Disney could benefit from Fox's entertainment portfolio.

Comcast dropped out of the bidding war for Fox last week and moved on to UK broadcaster Sky.

Original Submission

"exec" writes:

A powerful typhoon buffeted Japan's eastern coast on Saturday evening, prompting local authorities to issue early evacuation orders, with western areas recently devastated by floods and landslides in the storm's crosshairs.

Typhoon Jongdari, packing winds of up to 180 kilometres (110 miles) an hour, is forecast to make landfall on the country's main island on Saturday night or early Sunday, according to Japan's Meteorological Agency.

[...] Typhoon Jongdari is expected to barrel towards the western Chugoku region Sunday, where record rainfall earlier this month unleashed flooding and landslides, killing around 220 people and leaving more than 4,000 survivors still living in temporary shelters.

The weather agency warned of heavy rain, landslides, strong winds and high waves, and urged people to consider early evacuation.

"We want people especially in the downpour-hit regions to pay close attention to evacuation advisories," meteorological agency official Minako Sakurai told reporters.

[...] More than 410 domestic flights have been cancelled so far because of Typhoon Jongdari, while ferry services connecting Tokyo with nearby islands were also cancelled due to high waves, news reports said.

https://phys.org/news/2018-07-disaster-hit-japan-braces-powerful-typhoon.html

-- submitted from IRC

Original Submission

Arthur T Knackerbracket has found the following story:

Among many things that former head of the EPA Scott Pruitt did during his time at the agency was to cease enforcement of emissions standards for so-called "Glider" trucks. Gliders are new heavy truck chassis that have older, less technologically advanced and emissions-compliant engines installed into them.

The Obama administration sought to close the loopholes that allow gliders to be built and sold in significant numbers in an effort to curb their pollution but Pruitt opted to toss that aside in the name of business. We've covered the glider situation in the past, but the big news is that the new acting head of the EPA, a former coal lobbyist, has moved to reinstate the Obama regulations after a court insisted that they be enforced once again.

[...] Many trucking fleets like gliders because they are often cheaper to maintain and run than modern trucks, but the amount of pollutants that they emit can be hundreds of times more than the federal standards would allow. The laws that permitted gliders to be built in the first place were designed primarily to reduce the number of wrecked trucks going into scrap yards, instead giving their engines new homes. That kind of backfired.

-- submitted from IRC

Original Submission

"exec" writes:

The European Court of Justice has thrown out an appeal by the chocolate bar's maker, Nestlé, which argued that it owns the shape of the teatime treat.

Nestlé has spent more than a decade fighting to trademark the four-fingered wafer shape - something that rival Cadbury had fought hard against.

But Wednesday's judgement found that a previous court had been right to annul the decision by Europe's trademark group.

That could bring an end to the snack's protected European status - and a saga that has proved expensive for both sides.

It also takes the pressure off identical treats like Norway's Kvikk Lunsj - pronounced "quick lunch" and which has been around for 80 years - and opens the door to own-brand imitations at your local supermarket.

[...] Nestlé said that Wednesday's judgement was "not the end of the case" and that it believed the EU trademark office will side with the company anyway.

"We think the evidence proves that the familiar shape of our iconic four-finger Kit Kat is distinctive enough to be registered as an EU trademark," a spokesman said.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-44939819

-- submitted from IRC

Original Submission

Arthur T Knackerbracket has found the following story:

Via the good people at io9, my attention was drawn this morning to news that Dune is coming back to the silver screen. This is probably old news to many of you; we've known for a while that the man at the helm is Denis Villeneuve, fresh off Blade Runner 2049 (a worthy sequel to most everyone's favorite futuristic film noir), and just this week Deadline pegged a certain young Hollywood heartthrob for Atreides.

The latest news, however, is that Brian Herbert—son of Dune author Frank Herbert and an author in his own right—revealed that the first script will only focus on the first half of the novel. This confirms an earlier report that Villeneuve plans to adapt the book across two movies.

Herbert's epic sci-fi novel is set far off in the future—about 20,000 years from now—and it tells the story of an intergalactic power struggle between different noble houses to control a substance called melange, which makes interstellar travel possible. (That's massively underselling things, but you try summarizing a 400-page novel in one sentence.) Published in 1965, it has gone on to have a huge influence in popular culture; here at Ars, our favorite descendants are Fatboy Slim's "Weapon of Choice" and the frequent references to the litany of fear by Peter Puppy in the Earthworm Jim cartoons. (The recreation of Dune using gummy worms gets a notable mention.)

[...] By now you may have decided I am an uncritical viewer of all things Dune, so you may not be surprised to know that I am greatly looking forward to see what Villeneuve does with the story. Again, I think he did a bang-up job with a follow-on to Blade Runner, but it's true there's not much similarity between the two franchises other than the fact that they both take place in the future. Other Dune watchers are less confident—upon the news that Kevin J. Anderson (of Star Wars novels fame) was collaborating with Brian Herbert, Ars editor Lee Hutchinson told me, "I can't believe this is going to end in anything other than a nuclear explosion of human excrement."

[...] Legendary (the company behind The Dark Knight and Interstellar) bought rights to Dune about two years ago, but for now there's no firm timetable for the first film.

-- submitted from IRC

Original Submission

Thexalon writes:

The American Civil Liberties Union, in an effort to demonstrate the dangers of face recognition technology, ran photos of members of Congress against a database of mug shots using Amazon Rekognition software. That test incorrectly identified 28 legislators as criminals (cue the jokes - yes, the Congress members were confirmed to be elsewhere at the time). They hope that demonstrating that this risk hits close to home will get Congress more interested in regulating the use of this technology.

The false matches were disproportionately of people of color, including six members of the Congressional Black Caucus, among them civil rights legend Rep. John Lewis (D-Ga.). These results demonstrate why Congress should join the ACLU in calling for a moratorium on law enforcement use of face surveillance.

[...] If law enforcement is using Amazon Rekognition, it’s not hard to imagine a police officer getting a “match” indicating that a person has a previous concealed-weapon arrest, biasing the officer before an encounter even begins. Or an individual getting a knock on the door from law enforcement, and being questioned or having their home searched, based on a false identification.

Original Submission

MrPlow writes:

Submitted via IRC for Fnord666_

The Trump administration is working on a set of data privacy protections, the Washington Post reports, and according to the National Telecommunications and Information Administration, officials have held 22 meetings with more than 80 companies and groups since last month. Companies like Facebook, Google, AT&T and Comcast have been involved, according to four Washington Post sources familiar with the matter. The short-term goal is to deliver a data privacy proposal -- including how data should be collected and handled and what rights consumers have regarding that data -- which could serve as a guide for lawmakers as they consider legislation.

Axios reported last month that the White House was looking into a data privacy plan, meeting with groups like the Information Technology Industry Council, a trade group representing companies such as Apple, Google and Facebook, and The Business Roundtable, a lobbying group that hosts tech CEOs like Apple's Tim Cook, IBM's Virginia Rometty and Verizon's Lowell McAdam.

"Through the White House National Economic Council, the Trump Administration aims to craft a consumer privacy protection policy that is the appropriate balance between privacy and prosperity," Lindsay Walters, the president's deputy press secretary, told the Washington Post. "We look forward to working with Congress on a legislative solution consistent with our overarching policy."