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takyon writes:

Revised budget reconciliation package reduces NASA infrastructure funds

A new, scaled-back version of a spending package released Oct. 28 sharply reduced the money allocated to NASA infrastructure and climate change projects, while continuing to exclude funding for a second Artemis lunar lander.

The House released the text of the Build Back Better Act, a $1.75 trillion spending bill that is a revised version of an original $3.5 trillion bill often known as the budget reconciliation package because of the process by which it would be used to win passage in the Senate. The bill's release came hours after President Joe Biden announced the revised proposal in a speech at the White House.

The bill includes $750 million for upgrades to NASA infrastructure, $140 million for Earth science research and applications, and $220 million for NASA's aeronautics program. By contrast, a portion of the original bill approved by the House Science Committee Sept. 9 included $4 billion for NASA infrastructure, $163 million for Earth science and $225 million for aeronautics. That earlier bill also included $7 million for NASA cybersecurity.

Original Submission

SomeGuy writes:

Action News Jax reports: Last chunk of Golden Ray Cargo ship removed from St. Simons Sound

It's the largest wreck removal in U.S. history and after two years, the last chunk of the Golden Ray has been removed from St. Simons Sound.

It took a multi-agency effort including the U.S. Coast Guard, wreckage removal crews, environmental groups and more.

The final piece of the Golden Ray was placed on this barge at the mayor's point terminal in Brunswick on Monday.

Salvage crews have been working tirelessly to get all eight pieces of the cargo ship out of St. Simons Sound.

[...] It was carrying more than 4,200 cars on board worth over $142 million.

The U.S. Coast Guard rescued four crew members trapped for 36 hours after the ship capsized.

Investigators found out that a chief officer on the Golden Ray had miscalculated the stability of the ship, causing the car carrier to tip over.

Wreckage removal crews finally began moving the ship piece by piece last fall.

Although the Golden Ray is no longer in the water, crews will continue cleaning the mess left over.

In September, the NTSB released the results of their investigation: NTSB Determines Inaccurate Stability Calculations Caused Capsizing of Vehicle Carrier Golden Ray

Car & Driver has an in depth article explaining the circumstances surrounding the ship's demise.

Original Submission

An Anonymous Coward writes:

https://www.bbc.com/news/technology-59072745

ShotSpotter has garnered much negative press over the last year. Allegations range from its tech not being accurate, to claims that ShotSpotter is fuelling discrimination in the police.

In the wake of those negative news stories, the company gave BBC News access to its national incident-review centre.

[...] Microphones are fixed to structures around a neighbourhood. When a loud bang is detected, a computer analyses the sound and classifies it as either a gunshot or something else. A human analyst then steps in to review the decision.

In the incident-review room, former teacher Ginger Ammon allows me to sit with her as she analyses these decisions in real time.

Every time the algorithm flags a potential shot, it makes a "ping" sound.

Ms Ammon first listens to the recording herself and then studies the waveform it produces on her computer screen.

"We're looking to see how many sensors picked it up and if the sensors made a directional pattern, because, in theory, a gunshot can only travel in one direction," she says.

Once confident a shot has been fired, Ms Ammon clicks a button that dispatches police officers to the scene.

It all happens in under 60 seconds.

Original Submission

Update: 2021-11-01 13:25:28 UTC; added F@H history; elaborated on contest.--Bytram

martyb writes:

Welcome to November! Here's a quick update on the site.

Holiday
First off, Monday (November 1) is a National Holiday in France, which just happens to be where janrinok is located. He *just* returned today from a leave-of-absence. He still has quite a number of matters to attend to which limits his availability here. Dealing with loss takes time, so please take the time you need during this time.

In commemoration of the holiday, I am instructing the editorial staff to maintain a weekend/holiday story spacing schedule for the day.

Editorial Milestone
It gives me great pleasure to announce that TWO editors just achieved personal milestones: posting their 1,300th story

I can attest that that represents a great deal of time and effort. Please join me in thanking chromas and mrpg for their hard work and sacrifice for the site!

Folding@Home: Contest!
SoylentNews has a team that has been running for several years now. In fact, out of the over 200K teams in the world, we still rank in the top 300 teams! (Other teams include: Microsoft, Oracle, IBM, Google, Hewlett Packard... you get the idea.) Barring any surprises, I anticipate our team attaining 3 Billion Points in the next few weeks!

The contest? Logged-in SoylentNews users only. SoylentNews account must have been created on-or-before 2021-10-01 UTC. Entry must be submitted on-or-before Saturday 2021-11-06 UTC. One entry per account. Goal is to guess when the SoylentNews.org Folding@Home team first exceeds 3,000,000,000 (3 BILLION) points according to our IRC channel: #folding-rank. (N.B. That is an echo of results shown at https://folding.extremeoverclocking.com/team_summary.php?s=&t=230319). That channel is now logged (again) and will serve as the official channel-of-record.

Reference tallies to get you started (Added: 2021-11-01 13:25:28 UTC):

*SPOILER* (click to show) *SPOILER* (click to hide)

Rank: 396 | WUs: 172,775 | Score: 2,964,272,925 (Sun Oct 31 03:38:42 GMT 2021)
Rank: 396 | WUs: 172,780 | Score: 2,964,626,297 (Sun Oct 31 06:38:55 GMT 2021)
Rank: 396 | WUs: 172,783 | Score: 2,964,847,212 (Sun Oct 31 09:39:30 GMT 2021)
Rank: 396 | WUs: 172,787 | Score: 2,965,029,891 (Sun Oct 31 12:40:00 GMT 2021)
Rank: 396 | WUs: 172,789 | Score: 2,965,487,881 (Sun Oct 31 15:40:11 GMT 2021)
Rank: 396 | WUs: 172,795 | Score: 2,966,028,427 (Sun Oct 31 18:40:18 GMT 2021)
Rank: 396 | WUs: 172,798 | Score: 2,966,207,149 (Sun Oct 31 21:40:49 GMT 2021)
Rank: 396 | WUs: 172,802 | Score: 2,966,396,549 (Mon Nov 01 00:40:54 GMT 2021)
Rank: 396 | WUs: 172,804 | Score: 2,966,805,759 (Mon Nov 01 03:40:59 GMT 2021)
Rank: 396 | WUs: 172,805 | Score: 2,966,953,999 (Mon Nov 01 06:41:19 GMT 2021)
Rank: 396 | WUs: 172,810 | Score: 2,967,135,894 (Mon Nov 01 09:41:35 GMT 2021)
Rank: 396 | WUs: 172,814 | Score: 2,967,529,238 (Mon Nov 01 12:42:04 GMT 2021)

Important!
Each account's single entry is to be submitted as a comment to this story and is to be of the format "My entry is YYYY-MM-DD HH:MM UTC". Example: "My entry is 2021-11-01 13:16 UTC".

Winner receives a free, one-month subscription (extension) to SoylentNews.org!

Original Submission

upstart writes:

New synthesis process paves way for more efficient lasers, LEDs:

III-nitride semiconductor materials[*] are wide-bandgap semiconductors that are of particular interest in optic and photonic applications because they can be used to create lasers and LEDs that produce light in the visible bandwidth range. And when it comes to large-scale manufacturing, III-nitride semiconductor materials produced using a technique called metal organic chemical vapor deposition (MOCVD).

Semiconductor devices require two materials, a "p-type" and an "n-type." Electrons move from the n-type material to the p-type material. This is made possible by creating a p-type material that has "holes," or spaces that electrons can move into.

A challenge for people who make LEDs and lasers has been that there was a limit on the number of holes that you can make in p-type III-nitride semiconductor materials that are created using MOCVD. But that limit just went up.

"We have developed a process that produces the highest concentration of holes in p-type material in any III-Nitride semiconductor made using MOCVD," says Salah Bedair, co-author of a paper on the work and a distinguished professor of electrical and computer engineering at NC State. "And this is high quality material -- very few defects -- making it suitable for use in a variety of devices."

In practical terms, this means more of the energy input in LEDs is converted into light. For lasers, it means that less of the energy input will be wasted as heat by reducing the metal contact resistance.

[*] Wikipedia: III-nitride semiconductor materials.

Journal Reference:
Evyn L. Routh, Mostafa Abdelhamid, Peter Colter, et al. P-type In_xGa_1-xN semibulk templates (0.02 < x < 16) with room temperature hole concentration of mid-10¹⁹ cm^-3 and device quality surface morphology, Applied Physics Letters (DOI: 10.1063/5.0065194)

Original Submission

Snotnose writes:

You'll never guess what the most back-ordered item in the Apple catalog is. Go on, guess. I promise you'll be wrong, because it's the inane thing you can think of.

Apple's Most Back-Ordered New Product Is Not What You Expect:

Apple this month unveiled an array of new gadgets: more powerful MacBook laptop computers, AirPod wireless headphones with longer battery life and HomePod Mini speakers in three more colors.

But a different and unheralded Apple release is garnering so much interest that it has become the company's most back-ordered new product: a $19, 6.3-by-6.3-inch cloth to wipe smudges and fingerprints off screens.

The cloth, imprinted with the Apple logo in the corner, is made with "soft, nonabrasive material" to clean the screens of iPhones, iPads and MacBooks "safely and effectively," according to the product page. The listing adds that the Polishing Cloth — capital P, capital C — is "compatible" with 88 different Apple products. For most U.S. shoppers, shipment is delayed until Jan. 11, at the earliest.

Charging $19 for a piece of cloth about the size of two stacked dollar bills is bold even by Apple's standards, a company whose legions of loyal customers are conditioned to stomach steep prices.

[...] But the Polishing Cloth stands out because it is far more expensive than widely available alternatives. MagicFiber, a popular brand of microfiber cloth that uses ultrafine fibers to clean glass without scratching the surface, offers a pack of six for $9 on Amazon.

[...] Even so, the price has not stopped Apple fans from rushing to be early adopters.

See also: iFixit actually tore down Apple's backordered $19 screen cloth

Original Submission

Freeman writes:

Meta removing Facebook login requirement for Quest headsets by next year:

Last year, Facebook started requiring that new Oculus Quest users log in with their personal Facebook accounts rather than a separate Oculus account. Now, in the face of customer backlash and amid Facebook's metaverse-focused rebranding as Meta, the company says it is "working on" options for Quest users to avoid that login requirement starting next year.

"As we've focused more on work, and as we've heard feedback from the VR community more broadly, we're working on new ways to log in to Quest that won't require a Facebook account, landing sometime next year," Andrew Bosworth wrote in a Facebook post following yesterday's Connect keynote. "This is one of our highest priority areas of work internally."

Original Submission

canopic jug writes:

Back in 1998, Paul Strassmann, a former CIO of Xerox, NASA, and the US Department of Defense, wrote in Computerworld about how Microsoft's overly complex, defective, and vulnerable systems which were already a threat to national security even back then. The intervening time has shown Strassmann to have been more than correct as the problems he identified with Microsoft and its products worsen monatonically. Mitchel Lewis writes a guest post at Techrights about the current situation and how Microsoft remains a security threat against national security and systematic reliability of our computer-based society today:

That said, I think enough time has elapsed to confirm that Paul Strassmann is an authority on such matters and that Microsoft is precisely who he said they were. Further and with hindsight in our pocket, it seems as if Microsoft was merely projecting when they said Strassmann's paper was flawed and that he made errors in analyzing the state of computer security and its causes in light of their 95–99% monopoly on ransomware infections alone and that ransomware is already considered to be a national security threat.

[...] However, I'd like to think that Microsoft would get creative if the government were to sanction Microsoft by allowing allow citizens and businesses impacted by ransomware to bill Microsoft for the cost of the ransom and their losses in productivity. And although Microsoft cannot be faulted for the attacks, they can be faulted for their shit-in-hand approach to quality and security while sanctioning them until they actually take a common-sensical approach to quality and security appears to be the simplest means of combating ransomware and mitigating the threat it poses to our national security.

While 2% of known ransomware affects Android, which makes 72% of the mobile market and 41% of all clients, the rest is for Microsoft's product line which weighs in at 32% of the market nowadays. So far Microsoft's response has been weak and based on strawman fallacies with the occasional feeble ad-hominem fallacy thrown in.

Previously:
Many posts about Windows ransomware
(2021) The State Department and Three Other US Agencies Earn a D for Cybersecurity
(2016) DNC Creates A 'Cybersecurity Board' Without A Single Cybersecurity Expert
(2016) Execs: We're Not Responsible for Cybersecurity

Original Submission

upstart writes:

Science of fear: Why we love being terrified on Halloween:

On the face of it, deliberately choosing to be scared seems rather unusual.

[...] "A big part of the draw is there's an adrenaline rush'' explained Arianna Galligher, associate director of the Trauma Recovery Center at Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center.

At the exact moment we feel fear -- elicited from a jump scare in a horror film, for instance -- our brain releases a cocktail of endorphins and adrenaline. That mixture of hormones, Galligher says, is similar to what the brain sends out during moments of excitement. Of course, we rejoice in excitement. That's why fear often feels good.

"Fear and excitement are two sides of the same coin," she said. "And for a lot of people, that sort of jolt is exciting even if fear is an ingredient."

Short-lived terror can also offer a uniquely satisfying experience. When we're purely excited or happy, Galligher says our body primarily triggers dopamine, the classic pleasure hormone. But if the section of our brain responsible for judging threats, the amygdala, decides there's danger, adrenaline and a stress hormone called cortisol get added to the mix.

Those two activate our survival instincts.

"That's when you start to notice those physical sensations in your body," Galligher said. "Your breath gets kind of short and shallow, your heart might start pumping faster, you start to feel a little restless. Your eyesight gets a little better, you're keyed up, you're on edge, you're ready to react."

upstart writes:

Not spooked by Halloween ghost stories? You may have aphantasia:

So why are some people more easily spooked by stories than others? We ran an experiment to find out.

[...] One reason some people are more easily spooked could relate to how well they can visualize the scary scene in their mind.

When some people listen to a story they automatically conjure up the scene in their mind's eye, while others have to focus really hard to create any sort of mental image.

A small proportion cannot visualize images at all. No matter how hard they try, they do not see anything in their mind. This inability to visualize is known as aphantasia.

Although we have known people vary in their ability to visualize for many years, the term aphantasia was not coined until 2015.

We don't yet know exactly how many people have aphantasia. But estimates vary at 1–4% of the population.

[...] If the ability to visualize images and scenes in the mind plays a role in how we react to spooky stories, what does that mean for people with aphantasia? How do they react when reading scary stories?

upstart writes:

Elon Musk Reveals Real Reason He Supports Dogecoin, Says Many People at Tesla and Spacex Own DOGE – Altcoins Bitcoin News:

Tesla and Spacex CEO Elon Musk revealed Sunday the real reason he began supporting dogecoin. He noted that many people he talks to at both companies own the meme cryptocurrency.

Responding to a tweet by dogecoin holder Glauber Contessoto, who said the appeal for DOGE is real, referencing a survey that found about a third of U.S. crypto holders own the meme cryptocurrency, Musk wrote:

Lots of people I talked to on the production lines at Tesla or building rockets at Spacex own Doge. They aren’t financial experts or Silicon Valley technologists. That’s why I decided to support Doge — it felt like the people’s crypto.

The Doge community welcomes Musk’s comment and support. “Most of us don’t come from privileged backgrounds and honestly can’t relate to the experts in Silicon Valley,” Contessoto responded. “We just want to believe in a crypto that represents us all. Dogecoin is the little guy personified in crypto which is why we love it. We appreciate your support, Elon.”

[...] Disclaimer: This article is for informational purposes only. It is not a direct offer or solicitation of an offer to buy or sell, or a recommendation or endorsement of any products, services, or companies. Bitcoin.com does not provide investment, tax, legal, or accounting advice. Neither the company nor the author is responsible, directly or indirectly, for any damage or loss caused or alleged to be caused by or in connection with the use of or reliance on any content, goods or services mentioned in this article.

Original Submission

Freeman writes:

Children poisoned by birthday cake decorations loaded with lead, copper:

A recent baking trend of using "luster dusts" to give cake frostings and decorations a shimmery look has poisoned young children with heavy metals in at least two states, health researchers warn in a new report published Friday.

[...] Alarmingly, the health department investigated 28 other inedible luster dusts from the bakery that produced the toxic cake. The other dusts contained elevated levels of aluminum, barium, chromium, copper, iron, lead, manganese, nickel, and zinc, the investigators found. And after visiting other commercial bakeries, health investigators realized there was widespread use of such inedible luster dusts. The department subsequently issued health guidance to the bakeries to stop using inedible dusts, and the FDA issued an advisory.

Original Submission

upstart writes:

Hive ransomware now encrypts Linux and FreeBSD systems:

The Hive ransomware gang now also encrypts Linux and FreeBSD using new malware variants specifically developed to target these platforms.

However, as Slovak internet security firm ESET discovered, Hive's new encryptors are still in development and still lack functionality.

The Linux variant also proved to be quite buggy during ESET's analysis, with the encryption completely failing when the malware was executed with an explicit path.

It also comes with support for a single command line parameter (-no-wipe). In contrast, Hive's Windows ransomware comes with up to 5 execution options, including killing processes and skipping disk cleaning, uninteresting files, and older files.

The ransomware's Linux version also fails to trigger the encryption if executed without root privileges because it attempts to drop the ransom note on compromised devices' root file systems.

"Just like the Windows version, these variants are written in Golang, but the strings, package names and function names have been obfuscated, likely with gobfuscate," ESET Research Labs said.

[...] In the past, the Snatch and PureLocker ransomware operations have also used Linux variants on their attacks.

Original Submission

Freeman writes:

FCC defends Starlink approval as Viasat, Dish urge court to block SpaceX license:

With oral arguments scheduled for December 3, final briefs were filed on Tuesday by the FCC, Viasat, Dish, and SpaceX. Judges at the US Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit previously rejected Viasat's motion for a stay that would have halted SpaceX's ongoing launches of low-Earth-orbit (LEO) satellites pending the resolution of the lawsuit. Judges found that Viasat failed to show that it is likely to win its case alleging that the FCC improperly approved the satellite launches. Judges said at the time that Viasat did not meet "the stringent requirements for a stay pending court review" but granted a motion to expedite the appeal.

[...] (Update 9:39 pm EDT: After this article published, a lawyer who has been observing the case pointed out to us that the briefs we described as new are largely identical to ones that were previously filed. This week's filings were submitted on the October 26 deadline for final briefs, but the FCC brief was also submitted in a largely identical form on September 21. The only major difference is that the new versions have page citations to a joint appendix. We didn't cover these briefs at the time they were originally filed, and they are still relevant for the oral arguments scheduled for December 3; the rest of this article is unchanged.)

Previously:
Amazon Asked FCC to Reject Starlink Plan Because it Can't Compete, SpaceX Says
Blue Origin Employees Are Jumping Ship
Judges Reject Viasat's Plea to Stop SpaceX's Starlink Satellite Launches

Original Submission

DannyB writes:

From TechDirt:Swiss Court Says ProtonMail Isn't A Telecom, Isn't Obligated To Retain Data On Users

Background:

ProtonMail offers encrypted email, something that suggests it's more privacy conscious than others operating in the same arena. But, being located in Switzerland, it's subject to that country's laws. That has caused some friction between its privacy protection claims and its obligations to the Swiss government, which, earlier this year, rubbed French activists the wrong way when their IP addresses were handed over to French authorities.

The problem here wasn't necessarily the compliance with local laws. It was Proton's claim that it did not retain this information. If it truly didn't, it would not have been able to comply with this request. But it is required by local law to retain a certain amount of information. This incident coming to light resulted in ProtonMail altering the wording on its site to reflect this fact. It no longer claimed it did not retain this info. The new statement merely says this info "belongs" to users and Proton's encryption ensures it won't end up in the hands of advertisers.

The news:

[...] these retention obligations that have been challenged. These obligations undercut earlier promises made by Proton to its users -- the ones that resulted in a rewrite of its privacy guarantees as well as its cooperation with French authorities.

Fortunately for ProtonMail and its users, surveillance of the service will go back to being more limited. The Swiss Federal Administrative Court has sided with Proton, finding that it is not a service provider under the definitions included in the data retention law.

Tools can be used for bad things. Therefore we must carefully monitor their use and users. Computers can be weapons. Just ask anyone who has been hit over the head by a laptop.

See Also:
ProtonMail Deletes 'We Don't Log Your IP' Boast From Website After French Climate Activist Reported

ProtonMail logged IP address of French activist after order by Swiss authorities

Original Submission