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upstart writes in with an IRC submission:

NSA Issues Guidance on Replacing Obsolete TLS Versions:

The National Security Agency (NSA) this week issued guidance for National Security System (NSS), Department of Defense (DoD), and Defense Industrial Base (DIB) cybersecurity decision makers, system admins, and network security analysts to replace obsolete versions of the Transport Layer Security (TLS) protocol.

TLS and Secure Sockets Layer (SSL) were designed to ensure the security and privacy of communication channels between clients and servers through encryption and authentication.

The protocols encrypt data in traffic, but older versions of these protocols have proven insecure, weakening data protection. Furthermore, new attacks against them have been discovered, further proving their inefficiency.

[...] "NSA recommends that only TLS 1.2 or TLS 1.3 be used; and that SSL 2.0, SSL 3.0, TLS 1.0, and TLS1.1 not be used," the agency says.

[...] "This will also help organizations prepare for cryptographic agility to always stay ahead of malicious actors' abilities and protect important information. Using obsolete encryption provides a false sense of security because it may look as though sensitive data is protected, even though it really is not," the NSA notes.

(Emphasis retained from original.)

Original Submission

takyon writes:

Waymo says it's ditching the term 'self-driving' in dig at Tesla

The Google sister company [Waymo] says it is through using the term "self-driving cars" to describe its fleet of autonomous vehicles. And it is subtly pointing fingers at Elon Musk's Tesla as the reason why.

Waymo says it is committing to "using more deliberate language" in its marketing, educational, and promotional materials going forward. This means the company will no longer refer to its vehicles as "self-driving," Waymo says. For example, the company is changing the name of its three-year-old public education campaign from "Let's Talk Self-Driving" to "Let's Talk Autonomous Driving."

"It may seem like a small change, but it's an important one, because precision in language matters and could save lives," the company wrote in a blog post published on January 5th. "We're hopeful that consistency will help differentiate the fully autonomous technology Waymo is developing from driver-assist technologies (sometimes erroneously referred to as 'self-driving' technologies) that require oversight from licensed human drivers for safe operation."

The references to driver-assist technologies appears to be a shot at Tesla, which last year activated a software update in some of its cars called "Full Self Driving." The software, which enables drivers to use many of Autopilot's advanced driver-assist features on local, non-highway streets, is still technically in beta. But an unknown number of white-listed drivers have received it and have been actively testing it on public roads — often filming and uploading those tests on YouTube.

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upstart writes in with an IRC submission for FatPhil:

Facebook Pages to soon lose their like buttons, focus more on followers:

One of Facebook's most notable design cues is the like button, but the company will soon be doing away with it for Facebook Pages. Starting today with an unspecified amount of pages, there will be a new design, a dedicated News Feed, a Q&A format, and more that Page managers will be able to utilize.

The most significant change with this refresh is the removal of the like button and like count, which is pretty shocking given that the like button has been a hallmark of Facebook's for over a decade. [...] Instead, Facebook users will only be able to follow Pages soon, and Pages will be able to follow accounts as well. [...]

Facebook Pages will also be getting their own News Feed, which is where they'll see posts and updates from the accounts they follow. [...]

Lastly, Page management will gain a bit of functionality; managers will be able to choose precisely which sections (Insights, Ads, Content, and Community Activity & Messages) each person will be able to control.[...]

Original Submission

upstart writes in with an IRC submission for SoyCow7066:

It takes a lot of energy for machines to learn – here's why AI is so power-hungry:

Researchers at the University of Massachusetts Amherst estimated the energy cost of developing AI language models by measuring the power consumption of common hardware used during training. They found that training BERT once has the carbon footprint of a passenger flying a round trip between New York and San Francisco. However, by searching using different structures – that is, by training the algorithm multiple times on the data with slightly different numbers of neurons, connections and other parameters – the cost became the equivalent of 315 passengers, or an entire 747 jet.

[...] All of this means that developing advanced AI models is adding up to a large carbon footprint. Unless we switch to 100% renewable energy sources, AI progress may stand at odds with the goals of cutting greenhouse emissions and slowing down climate change. The financial cost of development is also becoming so high that only a few select labs can afford to do it, and they will be the ones to set the agenda for what kinds of AI models get developed.

[...] What does this mean for the future of AI research? Things may not be as bleak as they look. The cost of training might come down as more efficient training methods are invented. Similarly, while data center energy use was predicted to explode in recent years, this has not happened due to improvements in data center efficiency, more efficient hardware and cooling.

[...] Looking forward, the AI community should invest more in developing energy-efficient training schemes. Otherwise, it risks having AI become dominated by a select few who can afford to set the agenda, including what kinds of models are developed, what kinds of data are used to train them and what the models are used for.

Reference:
Emma Strubell, Ananya Ganesh, Andrew McCallum. Energy and Policy Considerations for Deep Learning in NLP (arXiv:1906.02243v1 [cs.CL])

Original Submission

upstart writes in with an IRC submission for AzumaHazuki:

Genetic engineering without unwanted side effects helps fight parasites:

Around a third of the world's population carries Toxoplasma gondii, a parasite that puts people with a weakened immune system at risk and can trigger malformations in the womb. The single-celled pathogen also leads to economic losses in agriculture, with toxoplasmosis increasing the risk of abortion among sheep, for example.

The parasite has a complex life cycle and infests virtually all warm-blooded creatures, including wild rodents and birds. It is introduced into livestock, and thus into humans, exclusively via cats. Only in this main host infectious stages form that are shed with the feces into the environment as encapsulated oocysts and from there enter the food chain.

"If we succeed in preventing the production of these oocysts, we can reduce the occurrence of toxoplasmosis among humans and animals," says Adrian Hehl, professor of parasitology and Vice Dean of Research and Academic Career Development at the University of Zurich's Vetsuisse Faculty. He and his research group have developed methods making an intervention of this sort possible.

[...] To make the sterile parasites, the researchers used the CRISPR-Cas9 gene editing scissors. While this enables precise modifications to the genetic material, depending on the protocol the method generally used can also have disadvantages. Errors and unintended genetic alterations can creep in. Now the research group around Hehl reports that in Toxoplasma, such unwanted side-effects can be avoided using a modified technique.

Journal Reference:
Rahel R. Winiger and Adrian B. Hehl. A streamlined CRISPR/Cas9 approach for fast genome editing in Toxoplasma gondii and Besnoitia besnoiti. Journal of Biological Methods, 2020 DOI: 10.14440/jbm.2020.343

Original Submission

upstart writes in with an IRC submission for Runaway1956:

Researchers Find a Faster, More Efficient Way to 3D Print:

Two researchers at Penn State have created a new system for five-axis additive 3D-printing that reduces the amount and density of support materials needed for making printed objects.

In a paper entitled "Process planning for five-axis support free additive manufacturing," doctoral candidates Xinyi Xiaoa and Sanjay Joshi proposed using a 3D printer with a movable build plate or extrusion arm to turn objects in 3D space as they're printed, thereby making every surface "flat" as its being extruded.

[...] The researcher's project focuses on a new predictive model for print preparation that makes it far faster to prepare objects for printing on a five-axis 3D printer.

"Using a five-axis deposition machine has the potential to build structures without the need for supports," the researchers wrote. "However, there is a lack of automated process planning software to support the full use of five-axis machines. [We introduce] an automated method that allows reorienting the part during the build using a five-axis machine."

Journal Reference:
Xinyi Xiaoa, Sanjay Joshi. Process planning for five-axis support free additive manufacturing [$], Additive Manufacturing (DOI: 10.1016/j.addma.2020.101569)

Original Submission

upstart writes in with an IRC submission:

Court says Uber can't hold users to terms they probably didn't read:

The highest state court in Massachusetts has rejected Uber's efforts to force a blind man's discrimination claims to be settled in arbitration. In the process, the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court raised the bar for technology companies trying to impose one-sided terms of service on users without providing clear notice that they were doing so.

When Christopher Kauders signed up for an Uber account several years ago, he had to fill out three screens of information. The third screen was titled "link payment" and offered users various ways to pay for Uber rides. Below these options was a message that stated that "by creating an Uber account, you agree to the Terms and Conditions and Privacy Policy."

Users could click on a link to view these legal documents, but the app didn't require users to do so. At no point was Kauders required to click an "I agree" button.

[...] But on appeal, Kauders' lawyers argued that he had never agreed to arbitration in the first place. On Monday, the highest state court in Massachusetts accepted Kauders' argument, holding that merely mentioning terms and conditions on a registration page wasn't sufficient to create a binding contract between Kauders and Uber.

"Uber's terms and conditions did not constitute a contract with the plaintiffs," the high court wrote (another woman had also sued Uber). The case was sent back down to the lower court.

Original Submission

upstart writes in with an IRC submission:

Bug? No, Telegram exposing its users' precise location is a feature working as 'expected':

A researcher who noted that using the "People Nearby" feature of popular messaging app Telegram exposed the exact location of the user has been told that it's working as expected.

[...] Using a utility that fakes the location of an Android device, Ahmed Hassan was able to discover the distance of individuals from three different points, and then use trilateration to pinpoint exactly where they were. He was able to retrieve exact home addresses using this method, which is not technically difficult.

Hassan reported the issue in the hope of a bug bounty only to be told: "Users in the People Nearby section intentionally share their location, and this feature is disabled by default. It's expected that determining the exact location is possible under certain conditions."

"If you enable the feature of making yourself visible on the map, you're publishing your home address online. Lot of users don't know this when they enable that feature," Hassan said.

He also believes that there is a widespread problem with malicious users faking their location, joining local groups, and spamming users with fake Bitcoin investments or other frauds – evidence, he claims, of poor application security.

In its FAQ Telegram claims to be "more secure than mass market messengers like WhatsApp and Line" based on its security protocols, but does not address the risks from malicious users.

upstart writes in with an IRC submission for c0lo:

MIT Tests 'Dream Incubation' Device That Manipulates The Content of People's Dreams:

Scientists have developed an experimental device and protocol for manipulating the content of people's dreams while they are sleeping, by making them recall specific cues that can trigger targeted dream themes and experiences.

While the boundless dream-building of Inception remains the stuff of science fiction for now, the new research shows that the evolving science of dream control is far more than fantasy – and that information processing during sleep is capable of being engineered from the outside.

In a new study, a team led by neuroscientist Adam Haar Horowitz from MIT describes how a wearable electronic device – called Dormio – enables what the researchers term 'targeted dream incubation' (TDI), during the fluid first stage of sleep where the sleeper experiences a borderland state of consciousness called hypnagogia.

[...] As a person falls asleep wearing the device, audio cues are played via an associated app, such as "Remember to think of a tree" (the dream theme used in the experiment, conducted with 49 participants).

[...] "Targeted dream incubation is a protocol for reactivating memories during sleep in a manner that leads to incorporation of the targeted memory, or related memories, into dream content," the researchers explain in their paper.

Journal Reference:
Adam Haar Horowitz, Tony J.Cunningham, Pattie Maes, Robert Stickgold. Dormio: A targeted dream incubation device, Consciousness and Cognition (DOI: 10.1016/j.concog.2020.102938)

Original Submission

upstart writes in with an IRC submission:

Open-source contributors say they'll pull out of Qt as LTS release goes commercial-only:

The Qt Company has followed up on its plan to make long-term support releases commercial-only by closing the source for 5.15 today, earning protests from open-source contributors who say that the 6.0 release, which remains open, is not yet usable.

[...] Yesterday senior VP Tuukka Turunen posted: "With Qt 6.0.0 released and the first patch release (Qt 6.0.1) coming soon, it is time to enter the commercial-only LTS phase for Qt 5.15 LTS. All the existing 5.15 branches remain publicly visible, but they are closed for new commits (and cherry-picks)... closing happens tomorrow, 5th January 2021.

"After this the cherry-picks go to another repository that will be available only for the commercial license holders... first commercial-only Qt 5.15.3 LTS patch release is planned to be released in February."

[...] The problem is that these releases are in effect no longer maintained. If there is a security issue, or a fix needed to support some change in one of the target operating systems, open-source users will not get that fix other than in the not-ready version 6.0.

Open-source contributor Thiago Macieira, an Intel software architect, said of the decision: "That means I will not be participating in the development of those fixes, commenting on what's appropriate or not, reviewing backports, or bug reports."

"Tend to agree," said Konstantin Ritt, another developer. "If there is a decision to close 5.15 sources, there'll be no more work from external/unpaid contributors."

Turunen responded that: "This is well understandable and expected. The Qt Company is prepared to handle the Qt 5.15 LTS phase work."

Original Submission

upstart writes in with an IRC submission for AzumaHazuki:

New class of antibiotics active against a wide range of bacteria: Dual-acting immuno-antibiotics block an essential pathway in bacteria and activate the adaptive immune response:

"We took a creative, double-pronged strategy to develop new molecules that can kill difficult-to-treat infections while enhancing the natural host immune response," said Farokh Dotiwala, M.B.B.S., Ph.D., assistant professor in the Vaccine & Immunotherapy Center and lead author of the effort to identify a new generation of antimicrobials named dual-acting immuno-antibiotics (DAIAs).

[...] [Dotiwala] and colleagues focused on a metabolic pathway that is essential for most bacteria but absent in humans, making it an ideal target for antibiotic development. This pathway, called methyl-D-erythritol phosphate (MEP) or non-mevalonate pathway, is responsible for biosynthesis of isoprenoids -- molecules required for cell survival in most pathogenic bacteria. The lab targeted the IspH enzyme, an essential enzyme in isoprenoid biosynthesis, as a way to block this pathway and kill the microbes. Given the broad presence of IspH in the bacterial world, this approach may target a wide range of bacteria.

[...] Since previously available IspH inhibitors could not penetrate the bacterial cell wall, Dotiwala collaborated with Wistar's medicinal chemist Joseph Salvino, Ph.D., professor in The Wistar Institute Cancer Center and a co-senior author on the study, to identify and synthesize novel IspH inhibitor molecules that were able to get inside the bacteria.

The team demonstrated that the IspH inhibitors stimulated the immune system with more potent bacterial killing activity and specificity than current best-in-class antibiotics when tested in vitro on clinical isolates of antibiotic-resistant bacteria, including a wide range of pathogenic gram negative and gram positive bacteria. In preclinical models of gram negative bacterial infection, the bactericidal effects of the IspH inhibitors outperformed traditional pan antibiotics. All compounds tested were shown to be nontoxic to human cells.

Journal Reference:
Kumar Sachin Singh, Rishabh Sharma, Poli Adi Narayana Reddy, et al. IspH inhibitors kill Gram-negative bacteria and mobilize immune clearance, Nature (DOI: 10.1038/s41586-020-03074-x)

Original Submission

2021-01-07 14:44:44 UTC: UPDATE (See below the fold).

martyb writes:

Pro-Trump rioters breach the US Capitol on historic day in Congress:

Supporters of President Donald Trump breached the US Capitol on Wednesday while Congress was meeting to certify the Electoral College's votes for president and vice president.

The Capitol has been put on lockdown and the certification vote has been paused. Vice President Mike Pence was evacuated from the building. House and Senate leadership is safe and in undisclosed locations, according to a person familiar with the situation.

Congress' counting of electoral votes is typically little more than an afterthought. But this joint session was expected to be a contentious affair that would last late into the evening and possibly on Thursday. Some Republicans are objecting to the count and delaying the inevitable certification of President-elect Joe Biden's win.

Also at AlJazeera (In Pictures: Pro-trump mob storms US Capitol building) and c|net (Mob storms Capitol forcing halt of election vote count).

[2021-01-06 22:33:53 UTC; UPDATE] NOTE: This is a chaotic time.

The Electoral College votes are currently being confirmed and tallied. Runoff votes in Georgia are being tallied and the results may swing the balance of power in the US Senate. The Georgia secretary of state [has been] relocated from [State] Capitol for security reasons. Mitch McConnell goes off on Trump. Pro-Trump reporter gloats over access to fleeing Hill staffer's computer. And Trump hand-picks replacement for Atlanta's US attorney after surprise resignation.

Let's please try and keep the discussion civil.

Also, please be polite and share your popcorn!

[Updates Begin]:

upstart writes in with an IRC submission:

Imminent sudden stratospheric warming to occur, bringing increased risk of snow over coming weeks:

A new study led by researchers at the Universities of Bristol, Exeter, and Bath helps to shed light on the winter weather we may soon have in store following a dramatic meteorological event currently unfolding high above the North Pole.

Weather forecasting models are predicting with increasing confidence that a sudden stratospheric warming (SSW) event will take place today, 5 January 2021.

The stratosphere is the layer of the atmosphere from around 10-50km above the earth's surface. SSW events are some of the most extreme of atmospheric phenomena and can see polar stratospheric temperature increase by up to 50°C over the course of a few days. Such events can bring very cold weather, which often result in snowstorms.

The infamous 2018 'Beast from the East' is a stark reminder of what an SSW can bring. The disturbance in the stratosphere can be transmitted downward and if this continues to the Earth's surface, there can be a shift in the jet stream, leading to unusually cold weather across Europe and Northern Asia. It can take a number of weeks for the signal to reach the surface, or the process may only take a few days.

The study, published in the Journal of Geophysical Research and funded by the Natural Environment Research Council (NERC), involved the analysis of 40 observed SSW events which occurred over the last 60 years. Researchers developed a novel method for tracking the signal of an SSW downward from its onset in the stratosphere to the surface.

Additional coverage at The Washington Post and the UK Met Office.

Journal Reference:
Richard J. Hall, Daniel M. Mitchell, William J.M Seviour, et al. Tracking the stratosphere‐to‐surface impact of Sudden Stratospheric Warmings, Journal of Geophysical Research: Atmospheres (DOI: 10.1029/2020JD033881)

Original Submission

upstart writes in with an IRC submission:

Comcast data cap blasted by lawmakers as it expands into 12 more states:

Dozens of state lawmakers from Massachusetts urged Comcast to halt enforcement of its 1.2TB monthly data cap, saying the cap hurts low-income people during the pandemic and is unnecessary because of Comcast's healthy network capacity.

"Network capacity is not an issue for Comcast or a valid excuse to charge customers more," 71 state lawmakers wrote in the letter last week, one day before Comcast brought its data cap to Massachusetts and other states where it wasn't already enforced. "Comcast itself claims it has plenty of capacity across its network, including areas where no caps are currently imposed... It is inconceivable that Comcast would choose to impose this 'cap and fee' plan during a pandemic, when many Massachusetts residents are forced to work and attend school from home via the Internet."

The letter said the lawmakers "strongly urge Comcast to discontinue this plan, and to reconsider any future attempts at imposing a data cap or any perversion of the principles of net neutrality in Massachusetts." The lawmakers also pointed out a statement by Comcast executive Tony Werner, who said the increased broadband traffic caused by the pandemic "has all been within the capability of the network."

[...] Comcast expanded its 1.2TB monthly data cap to its entire 39-state territory this month after four years of enforcing the cap in 27 of those states. Besides Massachusetts, newly capped areas include Connecticut, Delaware, Maryland, Maine, New Hampshire, New Jersey, North Carolina, New York, Pennsylvania, Vermont, West Virginia, and the District of Columbia.

How many of you know how much data you use in a month and if so, would be impacted by a 1.2 TB limit?

Original Submission

upstart writes in with an IRC submission:

Electric cars hit record 54% of sales in Norway as VW overtakes Tesla:

Norway is using huge tax incentives to help ensure that every new passenger car and van sold in the country by the end of 2025 is a zero-emission vehicle. Record electric vehicle sales in 2020 means the country is now ahead of schedule, according to Oyvind Solberg Thorsen, CEO of the Norwegian Road Federation (OFV).

The market share of electric cars in Norway increased to 54% in 2020 from 42% the previous year, according to data published by OFV on Tuesday. When hybrid vehicles are included, the share of electrified vehicles hit 83% last year.

Petrol and diesel cars, which had a combined market share of 71% in 2015, now have just 17%.

According to Reuters:

Norway became the first country in the world where the sale of electric cars has overtaken those powered by petrol, diesel and hybrid engines last year, with the German carmaker Volkswagen replacing Tesla as the top battery-vehicle producer, data shows.

[...] Seeking to become the first nation to end the sale of petrol and diesel cars by 2025, oil-producing Norway exempts fully electric vehicles from taxes imposed on those relying on fossil fuels.

Original Submission