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AnonTechie writes:

An interesting piece of computing history which may be familiar to many here ... Here is the inside story of personal computing at the legendary research lab

This article was first published as "Inside the PARC: the 'information architects'." It appeared in the October 1985 issue of IEEE Spectrum. A PDF version is available on IEEE Xplore. The diagrams and photographs appeared in the original print version.

In late 1969, C. Peter McColough, chairman of Xerox Corp., told the New York Society of Security Analysts that Xerox was determined to develop "the architecture of information" to solve the problems that had been created by the "knowledge explosion." Legend has it that McColough then turned to Jack E. Goldman, senior vice president of research and development, and said, "All right, go start a lab that will find out what I just meant."

Goldman tells it differently. In 1969 Xerox had just bought Scientific Data Systems (SDS), a mainframe computer manufacturer. "When Xerox bought SDS," he recalled, "I walked promptly into the office of Peter McColough and said, 'Look, now that we're in this digital computer business, we better damned well have a research laboratory!' "

In any case, the result was the Xerox Palo Alto Research Center (PARC) in California, one of the most unusual corporate research organizations of our time. [...] PARC, now in its fifteenth year, originated or nurtured technologies that led to these developments, among others:

• The Macintosh computer, with its mouse and overlapping windows.
• Colorful weather maps on TV news programs.
• Laser printers.
• Structured VLSI design, now taught in more than 100 universities.
• Networks that link personal computers in offices.
• Semiconductor lasers that read and write optical disks.
• Structured programming languages like Modula-2 and Ada.

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upstart writes:

The US needs to figure out what to do about its radioactive garbage:

Lindsay Krall decided to study nuclear waste out of a love for the arcane. Figuring how to bury radioactive atoms isn't exactly simple—it takes a blend of particle physics, careful geology and engineering, and a high tolerance for reams of regulations. But the trickiest ingredient of all is time. Nuclear waste from today's reactors will take thousands of years to become something safer to handle. [...]

[...] Congress has shown little interest in working out a solution for future generations. Long-term thinking isn't their strong suit. "It's been a complete institutional failure in the US," Krall says.

But there's a new type of nuclear on the block: the small modular reactor (SMR). [...] A Department of Energy-sponsored report estimated in 2014 that the US nuclear industry would produce 94 percent less fuel waste if big, old reactors were replaced with new smaller ones.

Krall was skeptical about that last part. "SMRs are generally being marketed as a solution—that maybe you don't need a geological repository for them," she says. So as a postdoc at Stanford, she [...] got an answer: By many measures, the SMR designs produce not less, but potentially much more waste: more than five times the spent fuel per unit of power, and as much as 35 times for other forms of waste. The research was published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences earlier this week.

upstart writes in with two related stories:

Elon Musk's back-to-office edict reignites debate on remote work:

Elon Musk, CEO of the electric vehicle maker, created a stir this week with emails to employees in which he said he wants them working at least 40 hours a week in the company's offices. Those who seek an exception to that policy will need approval from Musk himself — or they'll just be fired, he suggested.

[...] "Everyone at Tesla is required to spend a minimum of 40 hours in the office per week," Musk wrote. "Moreover, the office must be where your actual colleagues are located, not some remote pseudo office. If you don't show up, we will assume you have resigned."

"Tesla has and will create and actually manufacture the most exciting and meaningful products of any company on Earth," he added. "This will not happen by phoning it in."

Musk's stance goes against much of the thinking throughout the tech industry, where companies have been slow to put any demands on workers around when or if they return or how much time they need to spend in physical offices. Workers who were sent home at the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic have gained critical leverage over the past two years as companies are doing what it takes to appease sought-after tech talent and win recruiting battles.

After remote-work ultimatum, Musk reveals plan to cut 10% of Tesla jobs:

Tesla CEO Elon Musk wants to cut 10 percent of jobs at the electric carmaker because he has a "super bad feeling" about the economy, he wrote in an email to executives, according to Reuters.

Musk sent the message on Thursday with the subject line "pause all hiring worldwide," according to the report. Musk "did not elaborate on the reasons for his 'super bad feeling' about the economic outlook in the brief email seen by Reuters," the news organization wrote.

[...] Tesla reported $18.8 billion in revenue in Q1 2022, a year-over-year increase of 81 percent. Net income was $3.3 billion, a 658 percent year-over-year increase. Tesla said that it "was another record quarter for Tesla by several measures such as revenues, vehicle deliveries, operating profit, and an operating margin of over 19 percent."

[...] In addition to expressing concern about the economy, Musk has been waffling on his commitment to buy Twitter for $44 billion. Given that, the "elephant in the room now remains the radio silence on Twitter deal," Ives wrote.

Was issuing the ultimatum simply a quick and dirty way to get people to leave without having to pay unemployment or buy them out, and is any of this related to buying Twitter?

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upstart writes:

Volcano Watch: Over 9000 earthquakes and ground uplift were detected at Mt Thorbjorn, Iceland in the past month, with more Volcanoes now on alert:

Another volcano in Iceland is on an increased alert after an earthquake swarm and ground movement. In addition, the available data shows that magma is accumulating under the volcano, steadily increasing the risk of an eruption in the near future.

But as you will see, there is more than one volcano ready to erupt in Iceland. Moreover, there is a known history of widespread effects on Europe and across the Northern Hemisphere from Icelandic eruptions. For this reason, each event is being monitored closely and taken seriously.

Iceland is a volcanic island in the North Atlantic and one of the most active volcanic regions in the world. In its history, it produced significant eruptions with powerful impacts on Europe, North America, and the entire Northern Hemisphere.

The island experiences constant earthquake activity because it sits on the boundary between the Eurasian and North American tectonic plates. This boundary is also known as the Mid-Atlantic Ridge (MAR).

upstart writes:

When AI is the inventor who gets the patent?:

It's not surprising these days to see new inventions that either incorporate or have benefitted from artificial intelligence (AI) in some way, but what about inventions dreamt up by AI -- do we award a patent to a machine?

[...] In commentary published in the journal Nature, two leading academics from UNSW Sydney examine the implications of patents being awarded to an AI entity.

Intellectual Property (IP) law specialist Associate Professor Alexandra George and AI expert, Laureate Fellow and Scientia Professor Toby Walsh argue that patent law as it stands is inadequate to deal with such cases and requires legislators to amend laws around IP and patents -- laws that have been operating under the same assumptions for hundreds of years.

The case in question revolves around a machine called DABUS (Device for the Autonomous Bootstrapping of Unified Sentience) created by Dr Stephen Thaler, who is president and chief executive of US-based AI firm Imagination Engines. Dr Thaler has named DABUS as the inventor of two products -- a food container with a fractal surface that helps with insulation and stacking, and a flashing light for attracting attention in emergencies.

For a short time in Australia, DABUS looked like it might be recognised as the inventor because, in late July 2021, a trial judge accepted Dr Thaler's appeal against IP Australia's rejection of the patent application five months earlier. But after the Commissioner of Patents appealed the decision to the Full Court of the Federal Court of Australia, the five-judge panel upheld the appeal, agreeing with the Commissioner that an AI system couldn't be named the inventor.

upstart writes:

Meeting Owl videoconference device used by govs is a security disaster:

The Meeting Owl Pro is a videoconference device with an array of cameras and microphones that captures 360-degree video and audio and automatically focuses on whoever is speaking to make meetings more dynamic and inclusive. The consoles, which are slightly taller than an Amazon Alexa and bear the likeness of a tree owl, are widely used by state and local governments, colleges, and law firms.

A recently published security analysis has concluded the devices pose an unacceptable risk to the networks they connect to and the personal information of those who register and administer them. The litany of weaknesses includes:

• The exposure of names, email addresses, IP addresses, and geographic locations of all Meeting Owl Pro users in an online database that can be accessed by anyone with knowledge of how the system works. This data can be exploited to map network topologies or socially engineer or dox employees.
• The device provides anyone with access to it with the interprocess communication channel, or IPC, it uses to interact with other devices on the network. This information can be exploited by malicious insiders or hackers who exploit some of the vulnerabilities found during the analysis
• Bluetooth functionality designed to extend the range of devices and provide remote control by default uses no passcode, making it possible for a hacker in proximity to control the devices. Even when a passcode is optionally set, the hacker can disable it without first having to supply it.
• An access point mode that creates a new Wi-Fi SSID while using a separate SSID to stay connected to the organization network. By exploiting Wi-Fi or Bluetooth functionalities, an attacker can compromise the Meeting Owl Pro device and then use it as a rogue access point that infiltrates or exfiltrates data or malware into or out of the network.
• Images of captured whiteboard sessions—which are supposed to be available only to meeting participants—could be downloaded by anyone with an understanding of how the system works.

[...] Researchers from modzero, a Switzerland- and Germany-based security consultancy that performs penetration testing, reverse engineering, source-code analysis, and risk assessment for its clients, discovered the threats while conducting an analysis of videoconferencing solutions on behalf of an unnamed customer. The firm first contacted Meeting Owl-maker Owl Labs of Somerville, Massachusetts, in mid-January to privately report their findings. As of the time this post went live on Ars, none of the most glaring vulnerabilities had been fixed, leaving thousands of customer networks at risk.

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An Anonymous Coward writes:

https://tails.boum.org/news/version_5.1/index.en.html

This release fixes the security vulnerability[1][2] in the JavaScript engine of Firefox and Tor Browser announced on May 24.

This release was delayed from May 31 to June 5 because of a delay in the release of Tor Browser 11.0.14.

This is a very important release - please do not use version 5.0 or previous versions.

[1] https://tails.boum.org/security/prototype_pollution/index.en.html
[2] https://www.mozilla.org/en-US/security/advisories/mfsa2022-19/

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upstart writes:

China launches third crewed mission to new space station:

China launches third crewed mission to new space station

The astronauts lifted off on the Shenzhou-14 spacecraft at 10:44 a.m. local time, launched by a Long March 2F rocket from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center in the Gobi Desert, Inner Mongolia.

The team will live and work at the Tiangong Space Station's Tianhe core module for six months before returning to Earth in December. Tiangong means Heavenly Palace.

The crew includes Chen Dong, Liu Yang and Cai Xuzhe, who are expected to dock with the space station about 6.5 hours after launch.

Chen, the mission commander, was aboard China's Shenzhou-11 manned space mission in 2016 and previously held the record for longest stay in space by a Chinese astronaut. Liu became the first ever Chinese woman in space in 2012 on the Shenzhou-9 mission. And this will be Cai's first mission in space.

[...] At the end of the Shenzhou-14 mission, another three astronauts are expected to rotate and live with the crew for five to 10 days, bringing the number of Chinese astronauts in space at the same time to a record six.

[...] Once construction is completed, the Tiangong space station is expected to last for 15 years. China plans to launch two crewed missions and two cargo missions to the station every year, according to the CMSA. [China's Manned Space Agency]

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upstart writes:

New York state passes first electronics right-to-repair bill:

The fight for the right to repair scored a huge win Friday with New York state passing a bill that requires digital electronics manufacturers, like laptop and smartphone manufacturers, to make diagnostic and repair information available to consumers and independent repair shops.

The bill, which passed in the New York Senate (49 to 14) on Wednesday and in the Assembly (145 to 1) today, enacts the Digital Fair Repair Act. Governor Kathy Hochul has to sign the bill before it is law, but advocates, like iFixit, said they don't expect obstacles there.

Notably, the bill doesn't pertain to medical devices, home appliances, agricultural and off-road equipment, or public safety communications equipment. However, right-to-repair advocates have their eye on those areas as well. The bill also doesn't cover motor vehicles.

Companies selling tech products in New York that are covered will be obligated to distribute information, software, tools, and parts so that individuals and independent repair shops can repair personal devices on their own. iFixit said it expects this to take effect by 2023.

More specifically, the bill says it:

"Requires OEMs to make available, for purposes of diagnosis, maintenance, or repair, to any independent repair provider, or to the owner of digital electronic equipment manufactured by or on behalf of, or sold by, the OEM, on fair and reasonable terms, documentation, parts, and tools, inclusive of any updates to information. Nothing in this section requires an OEM to make available a part if the part is no longer available to the OEM. For equipment that contains an electronic security lock or other security-related function, the OEM shall make available to the owner and to independent repair providers, on fair and reasonable terms, any special documentation, tools, and parts needed to access and reset the lock or function when disabled in the course of diagnosis, maintenance, or repair of the equipment. Such documentation, tools, and parts may be made available through appropriate secure release systems."

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upstart writes:

Microsoft promises 'open and constructive' approach to employee labor unions:

Conceding that the rise of labor unions in tech may ultimately reach its own business, Microsoft released a new set of principles acknowledging the rights of its employees to organize, pledging to work constructively with any who do, and making it clear that it hopes they won't feel the need.

[...] The unusual pledge follows a union vote last week by the quality assurance team inside Activision-Blizzard subsidiary Raven Software, maker of Call of Duty. Microsoft needs regulatory approval for its $68.7 billion deal to acquire Activision Blizzard.

[...] "That's obviously part of the constellation of developments that we've been paying attention to, as well as lots of other things," he said. "The principles that we're announcing today will certainly apply in the future if Activision-Blizzard becomes part of Microsoft."

Microsoft's approach contrasts with Amazon, which has opposed the formation of labor unions in its fulfillment network. Workers at an Amazon warehouse in Staten Island, N.Y., became the first in the company's U.S. workforce to vote to organize in April.

Here are the four principles as outlined in Smith's post:

• We believe in the importance of listening to our employees' concerns [...]

• We recognize that employees have a legal right to choose whether to form or join a union [...]

• We are committed to creative and collaborative approaches with unions when employees wish to exercise their rights and Microsoft is presented with a specific unionization proposal [...]

• Building on our global labor experiences, we are dedicated to maintaining a close relationship and shared partnership with all our employees, including those represented by a union [...]

So, great champion of employee welfare and support, trying to get out in front of the inevitable, or trying to put on a good face while their acquisition is being decided? (Or some linear combination of those three?)

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Phoenix666 writes:

SpaceNews:

A Long March 5B rocket has arrived at Wenchang spaceport as China gears up to send its second space station module into orbit.

The components of the third Long March 5B heavy-lift rocket arrived at Wenchang May 29, the China Manned Space Engineering Office (CMSEO) announced (Chinese).

[...] The mission aims to send the roughly 22-ton Wentian experiment module into orbit to join Tianhe, the similarly-sized core module for the Tiangong space station which launched in April 2021.

The 17.9-meter-long Wentian ("Quest for the Heavens") module will dock with the forward port of Tianhe, which is currently in a 387 by 386-kilometer orbit inclined by 41.5 degrees.

The Tianhe space station could be expanded to six modules.

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hubie writes:

Hennepin Healthcare investigators study game to help people quit smoking:

Hennepin Healthcare Research Institute is testing an innovative way to help people quit smoking – by letting them bet on themselves and win real money. It's part of a new game called QuitBet and it's being funded by a National Institutes of Health (NIH) research grant administered by researchers at Hennepin Healthcare.

Players commit to quit smoking over four weeks and bet $30 on themselves, which goes into the pot. Players then receive a free breath testing device to track their progress every day. At the end, all the players who have managed to quit win back their bet plus a profit as they split the pot with the other winners. Winners typically double their money while quitting smoking.

Developed by digital-health company WayBetter, QuitBet is an example of the "serious games" movement where games are employed to improve health. [...]

"Quitting smoking is hard, but who said it also has to be solitary and frustrating?" said Rosen. "Why not mix in some fun, friendly competition and the thrill of winning money? It's a powerful new way to think about the problem. We're finding that it really helps people get through those tough first few weeks."

The game lasts four weeks. Is that long enough to be off nicotine to prevent relapses and considered yourself to have quit? I've seen late night TV commercials for weight loss that sounds like works on this model. Do you think this could be widely effective, or is the fact that there is a weight loss company presumably making money on people who lose their bets evidence that the approach doesn't work for most?

If you want to join the study, visit https://Quit.bet.

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upstart writes:

Who may benefit from climate change? Rattlesnakes, study suggests:

Animals around the world have been feeling the negative effects of climate change, but there's one slithering creature that may be benefiting from it: rattlesnakes.

Rattlesnakes can be found in every state in the continental U.S., according to Lewis and Clark Trail Heritage Foundation, but they are commonly found in the southwest. One of the most widely known snakes in the world, rattlesnakes are relatively reserved reptiles that avoid human confrontation, but when threatened, they often will curl into striking position and begin to rattle their signature tail before they give a venomous bite.

[...] If temperatures continue to warm, Crowell said that could mean hibernation ends earlier in the spring for rattlesnakes, and they could still be active late in the fall heading into winter.

"Basically just more time to grow and do rattlesnake things," she said.

[...] Luckily, Crowell said not to panic; more rattlesnake activity won't mean "a giant boom of millions of more rattlesnakes." Instead, they might just be noticed more often and won't drastically increase the annual number of bites.

Journal Reference:
Hayley L. Crowell, Katherine C. King, James M. Whelan, et al. Thermal ecology and baseline energetic requirements of a large-bodied ectotherm suggest resilience to climate change, Ecol Evol., 2022. DOI: 10.1002/ece3.7649

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upstart writes:

Scientists made a Möbius strip out of a tiny carbon nanobelt:

From cylindrical nanotubes to the hollow spheres known as buckyballs, carbon is famous for forming tiny, complex nanostructures (SN: 8/15/19). Now, scientists have added a new geometry to the list: a twisted strip called a Möbius carbon nanobelt.

In 2017, researchers created carbon nanobelts, thin loops of carbon that are like tiny slices of a carbon nanotube. That feat suggested it might be possible to create a nanobelt with a twist, a Möbius carbon nanobelt. To make the itsy-bitsy twisty carbon, some of the same researchers stitched together individual smaller molecules using a series of 14 chemical reactions, chemist Yasutomo Segawa of the Institute for Molecular Science in Okazaki, Japan, and colleagues report May 19 in Nature Synthesis.

While carbon nanotubes can be used to make new types of computer chips and added to textiles to create fabric with unusual properties, scientists don't yet know of any practical applications for the twisty nanobelts (SN: 8/28/19; SN: 2/8/19). But, Segawa says, the work improves scientists' ability to make tiny carbon structures, especially complicated ones.

Journal Reference:
Yasutomo Segawa et al., Synthesis of a Möbius carbon nanobelt, Nat. Synth (2022). DOI: https://www.nature.com/articles/s44160-022-00075-8

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fliptop writes:

Last week, Google Street View turned 15:

Fifteen years ago, Street View began as a far-fetched idea from Google co-founder Larry Page to build a 360-degree map of the entire world. Fast forward to today: There are now over 220 billion Street View images from over 100 countries and territories — a new milestone — allowing people to fully experience what it's like to be in these places right from their phone or computer. And Street View doesn't just help you virtually explore, it's also critical to our mapping efforts — letting you see the most up-to-date information about the world, while laying the foundation for a more immersive, intuitive map.

While that's all worth celebrating, we aren't stopping there. Today, we're unveiling Street View's newest camera, giving you more ways to explore historical imagery, and taking a closer look at how Street View is powering the future of Google Maps.

Admittedly, the piece reads more like an ad for their new camera, but there's no denying the tool has its place in modern society. Here's a fun idea, ask any Millennial or Gen Z if they know how to read a map.

Also at XDA, DailyMail, and a decent discussion at YCombinator Hacker News. Originally spotted on The Eponymous Pickle.

[Ed.: there were a lot of interesting things that people found in the early days before Google has to start blurring faces and license plates --hubie]

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