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upstart writes:

Snowden Ten Years Later - Schneier on Security:

Snowden Ten Years Later

In 2013 and 2014, I wrote extensively about new revelations regarding NSA surveillance based on the documents provided by Edward Snowden. But I had a more personal involvement as well.

I wrote the essay below in September 2013. The New Yorker agreed to publish it, but the Guardian asked me not to. It was scared of UK law enforcement, and worried that this essay would reflect badly on it. And given that the UK police would raid its offices in July 2014, it had legitimate cause to be worried.

Now, ten years later, I offer this as a time capsule of what those early months of Snowden were like.

It’s a surreal experience, paging through hundreds of top-secret NSA documents. You’re peering into a forbidden world: strange, confusing, and fascinating all at the same time.

I had flown down to Rio de Janeiro in late August at the request of Glenn Greenwald. He had been working on the Edward Snowden archive for a couple of months, and had a pile of more technical documents that he wanted help interpreting. According to Greenwald, Snowden also thought that bringing me down was a good idea.

owl writes:

Preparing for the Incoming Computer Shopper Tsunami

There's no way for me to know where your awareness starts with all this, so let's just start at the beginning.

Computer Shopper was a hell of a magazine. I wrote a whole essay about it, which can be summarized as "this magazine got to be very large, very extensive, and probably served as the unofficial 'bible' of the state of hardware and software to the general public throughout the 1980s and 1990s." While it was just a pleasant little computer tabloid when it started in 1979, it quickly grew to a page count that most reasonable people would define as "intimidating".

[...] So, there I was whining online about how it was 2023 and nobody seemed to be scanning in Computer Shopper and we were going to be running into greater and greater difficulty to acquire and process them meaningfully, and I finally, stupidly said that if we happened on a somewhat-complete collection, I'd figure out how to do it.

And then an ebay auction came up that seemed to fit the bill.

Ed note: I well remember. Some editions stretched to 800 or more pages! It seemed that I could barely get through one edition when the next month's edition would come along. Who else remembers?

Original Submission

Sulla writes:

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/technology/this-raspberry-pi-project-could-give-your-old-blackberry-a-second-life/ar-AA1c4WYV

Opinion:
Scientific studies have shown for decades now that the most efficient, pleasurable, and effective way of communicating with a cell phone is through a keyboard (also applies to laptops!). Double-blind studies of cave rats in Nambia showed that messages typed with a keyboard are 100% more readable than ones without keyboards, or they would be if cave rats knew how to spell. 9 out of 10 doctors agree based on our best analysis of their prescription hand wiring legibility.

While on my weekly quest to see if any new keyboard phones might be somewhere in the future I came across this article from Saturday

Article:

This Raspberry Pi Project Could Give Your Old BlackBerry A Second Life

Indie tech collective Squarofumi, which, in collaboration with the creators of Matrix-based chat app Beeper, have created a Raspberry Pi-powered device in the BlackBerry's image. This device is aptly named the Beepberry, and it combines that classic keyboard with a simplistic interface.

This device is powered by a Raspberry Pi Zero W hooked up to a high-contrast, low-power 400x240 Sharp Memory LCD and a classic, pleasantly tactile keyboard and trackpad. The Beepberry features native support for the Beeper app, a universal chat app that can be used to connect with users on 15 different major chat platforms like WhatsApp, Slack, Discord, and more.

In addition to the nostalgic BlackBerry-style keyboard, the interface of the Beepberry is designed to be as minimalistic as possible, rendering all apps exclusively with text (and some ASCII art, where applicable). If you'd prefer your mobile device to be a bit flashier, the Beepberry is highly customizable in terms of both hardware and software. It features programmable USB and GPIO ports and buttons, and can support any Linux app that's already operable on the Raspberry Pi Zero W. There's even a programmable RGB light on the front of the device for notifications.

With the raspberry pi zero its 99 bucks, without is 79. They are sold out which is sad because I would buy one if they weren't. Keyboard phones are back baby.
https://shop.sqfmi.com/products/beepberry?variant=43376334962843

Original Submission

upstart writes:

'Ducking hell' to disappear from Apple autocorrect:

Apple has said it will no longer automatically change one of the most common swear words to 'ducking'.

The autocorrect feature, which has long frustrated users, will soon be able to use AI to detect when you really mean to use that expletive.

"In those moments where you just want to type a ducking word, well, the keyboard will learn it, too," said software boss Craig Federighi.

He announced the development at Apple's developers' conference in California.

iPhone users have often complained about how autocorrect forces them to rewrite their own messages - with the term "damn you autocorrect" becoming an acronym, a meme, an Instagram account and even a song.

[...] Initially flagged in a 2017 paper from Google, transformers are some of the most powerful classes of AI models, and autosuggest - or predictive text - systems are beginning to become more mainstream.

The autocorrect change will be part of the iOS 17 operating system upgrades which are expected to be available as a public beta in July, with the general release in September.

Original Submission

canopic jug writes:

La Quadrature du Net has a detailed analysis of the "8 December Case" where a number of suspects were rounded up and have been kept behind bars since December 2020. Their case is schedule for October 2023 and hinges more or less entirely on the observation that the group used encrypted software, especially communications software. The basic use of encryption is used to hand wave away the questions about the lack of evidence.

La Quadrature du Net has been alerted to the fact that, in the context of the "8 december" case, not only the use of commundicatgions [sic] encryption tooals [sic] (WhatsApp, Signal, Protonmail, Silence, etic [sic].) but also the possession of technicale documentation and the organisation of digital hygiene training courses are being used to "demonstrate" a so-called "clandestine behaviour" revealing the "terrorist nature" of the group⁵.

We have had access to certain elements of the file confirming this information. We have chosen to make them visible in order to denounce the criminalisation of digital practices at the heart of our day-to-day work and the manipulation to which they are subjected in this affair.

Mixing fantasies, bad faith and technical incompetence, a police story has been constructed around the (good) digital practices of the accused, with the aim of staging a "clandestine group", "conspirative", "conspiratist" and therefore... terrorist.

The elements of the investigation that have been communicated to us are staggering. Here are just some of the practices that are being misused as evidence of terrorist behavior

• the use of applications such as Signal, WhatsApp, Wire, Silence or ProtonMail to encrypt communications ;
• using Internet privacy tools such as VPN, Tor or Tails7 ;
• protecting ourselves against the exploitation of our personal data by GAFAM via services such as /e/OS, LineageOS, F-Droid ;
• encrypting digital media;
• organizing and participating in digital hygiene training sessions;
• simple possession of technical documentation.

The gist is that the authorities are seeking to establish a position where simply having used encryption is sufficient evidence in and of itself of crime and conspiracy to commit crime.

Original Submission

janrinok writes:

https://phys.org/news/2023-05-team-nanoparticles-brain-cancer-treatment.html

University of Queensland researchers have developed a nanoparticle to take a chemotherapy drug into fast growing, aggressive brain tumors.

Research team lead Dr. Taskeen Janjua from UQ's School of Pharmacy said the new silica nanoparticle can be loaded with temozolomide, a small molecule drug used to treat tumors known as glioblastoma.

"This chemotherapy drug has limitations—it doesn't stay in the blood for very long, it can be pushed out of the brain, and it doesn't have high penetration from blood into the brain," Dr. Janjua said.

"To make the drug more effective, we developed an ultra-small, large pore nanoparticle to help it move through the blood-brain barrier and penetrate the tumor while also reducing unwanted patient side effects.

"This strategy could be a more effective way to treat brain cancer and prevent it from coming back."

More information:Taskeen Iqbal Janjua et al, Efficient delivery of Temozolomide using ultrasmall large-pore silica nanoparticles for glioblastoma, Journal of Controlled Release (2023). DOI: 10.1016/j.jconrel.2023.03.040

Journal information:Journal of Controlled Release
                                                                                                               

Original Submission

hubie writes:

Too much water can make whiskies taste the same:

While adding a little water is popularly thought to "open up" the flavor of whisky, a Washington State University-led study indicates there's a point at which it becomes too much: about 20%.

Researchers chemically analyzed how volatile compounds in a set of 25 whiskies responded to the addition of water, including bourbons, ryes, Irish whiskeys and both single malt and blended Scotches. They also had a trained sensory panel assess six of those whiskies, three Scotches and three bourbons.

Both tests found that adding a little water could change how the whiskies smelled, but after 20%, they may start to have the same aroma. Since smell and taste are often closely linked, this likely affected the spirit's flavor as well.

[...] Whisky is a mix of compounds that run the scale from hydrophilic to hydrophobic, in other words, ones that are attracted to water and others that are repelled by it. The addition of water sends the whisky's hydrophobic compounds into that headspace and leaves the hydrophilic ones behind, changing the aroma of the liquid.

Journal Reference:
P. Layton Ashmore, Aubrey DuBois, Elizabeth Tomasino, et al., Impact of Dilution on Whisky Aroma: A Sensory and Volatile Composition Analysis [open], Foods 2023, 12(6), 1276; https://doi.org/10.3390/foods12061276

Original Submission

hubie writes:

The first building blocks of life on Earth may have formed thanks to eruptions from our Sun:

A series of chemical experiments show how solar particles, colliding with gases in Earth's early atmosphere, can form amino acids and carboxylic acids, the basic building blocks of proteins and organic life. The findings were published in the journal Life.

To understand the origins of life, many scientists try to explain how amino acids, the raw materials from which proteins and all cellular life, were formed. The best-known proposal originated in the late 1800s as scientists speculated that life might have begun in a "warm little pond": A soup of chemicals, energized by lightning, heat, and other energy sources, that could mix together in concentrated amounts to form organic molecules.

In 1953, Stanley Miller of the University of Chicago tried to recreate these primordial conditions in the lab. Miller filled a closed chamber with methane, ammonia, water, and molecular hydrogen – gases thought to be prevalent in Earth's early atmosphere – and repeatedly ignited an electrical spark to simulate lightning. A week later, Miller and his graduate advisor Harold Urey analyzed the chamber's contents and found that 20 different amino acids had formed.

[...] But the last 70 years have complicated this interpretation. Scientists now believe ammonia (NH3) and methane (CH4) were far less abundant; instead, Earth's air was filled with carbon dioxide (CO2) and molecular nitrogen (N2), which require more energy to break down. These gases can still yield amino acids, but in greatly reduced quantities.

[...] "During cold conditions you never have lightning, and early Earth was under a pretty faint Sun," Airapetian said. "That's not saying that it couldn't have come from lightning, but lightning seems less likely now, and solar particles seems more likely."

These experiments suggest our active young Sun could have catalyzed the precursors of life more easily, and perhaps earlier, than previously assumed.

Journal Reference:
Kensei Kobayashi, Jun-ichi Ise, Ryohei Aoki, et al., Formation of Amino Acids and Carboxylic Acids in Weakly Reducing Planetary Atmospheres by Solar Energetic Particles from the Young Sun [open], Life, 2023. https://doi.org/10.3390/life13051103

Original Submission

upstart writes:

New York's skyscrapers are causing it to sink – what can be done about it?:

The ground under New York City is sinking partly due to the sheer mass of all its buildings [...] As sea levels also rise to meet these concrete jungles, can they be saved?

[...] On the 300sq miles (777sq km) that comprise New York City sit 762 million tonnes (1.68 trillion pounds) of concrete, glass and steel, according to estimates by researchers at the United States Geological Survey (USGS). While that figure involves some generalisations about construction materials, that prodigious tonnage does not include the fixtures, fittings and furniture inside those million-odd buildings. Nor does it include the transport infrastructure that connects them, nor the 8.5 million people who inhabit them.

All that weight is having an extraordinary effect on the land on which it is built. That ground, according to a study published in May, is sinking by 1-2mm (0.04-0.08in) per year, partly due to the pressure exerted on it by the city buildings above. And that is concerning experts – add the subsidence of the land to the rising of sea levels, and the relative sea level rise is 3-4mm (0.12-0.16in) per year. That may not sound like much, but over a few years it adds up to significant problems for a coastal city.

upstart writes:

A conductive self-healing hydrogel to create flexible sensors:

Recent advancements in the field of electronics have enabled the creation of smaller and increasingly sophisticated devices, including wearable technologies, biosensors, medical implants, and soft robots. Most of these technologies are based on stretchy materials with electronic properties.

While material scientists have already introduced a wide range of flexible materials that could be used to create electronics, many of these materials are fragile and can be easily damaged. As damage to materials can result in their failure, while also compromising the overall functioning of the system they are integrated in, several existing soft and conductive materials can end up being unreliable and unsuitable for large-scale implementations.

Researchers at Harbin University of Science and Technology in China recently developed a new conductive and self-healing hydrogel that could be used to create flexible sensors for wearables, robots or other devices. This material and its composition was outlined in the Journal of Science: Advanced Materials and Devices.

[...] In the future, the hydrogel created by this team of researchers could be used to develop a wide range of other sensors and wearable electronics, such as sensors that can detect human motion or medical devices that monitor specific biological signals. In addition, their work could pave the way for the development of similar flexible and conductive hydrogels with self-healing properties.

Journal Reference:
Xiaoming Wang et al, Constructing conductive and mechanical strength self-healing hydrogel for flexible sensor, Journal of Science: Advanced Materials and Devices (2023). DOI: 10.1016/j.jsamd.2023.100563

Original Submission

upstart writes:

Multi-cancer blood test shows real promise in NHS study:

A blood test for more than 50 types of cancer has shown real promise in a major NHS trial, researchers say.

The test correctly revealed two out of every three cancers among 5,000 people who had visited their GP with suspected symptoms, in England or Wales.

In 85% of those positive cases, it also pinpointed the original site of cancer.

The Galleri test looks for distinct changes in bits of genetic code that leak from different cancers. Spotting treatable cancer early can save lives.

[...] "The test was 85% accurate in detecting the source of the cancer - and that can be really helpful because so many times it is not immediately obvious when you have got the patient in front of you what test is needed to see whether their symptoms are down to cancer," he said.

Original Submission

Motor Trend recently posted, "Just Wait Until You See How Bad the Lordstown Endurance's EPA Numbers Are" at https://www.motortrend.com/news/lordstown-endurance-epa-range-efficiency-estimates-official/ and other car-buff sites are running similar stories.

For a little background on Lordstown, we look to https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lordstown_Endurance and see that the company has been going for a handful of years, with Foxconn as a recent investor. They have taken over the former GM Lordstown OH factory (similar to Tesla, which took over the former GM/Toyota NUMMI plant). Their initial product is a slick looking pickup truck.

However, as production has started, the EPA has done their official testing and:

The most notable number is the total estimated range: 174 miles. That puts it way at the bottom of the range scale, with more in common with the baffling Mazda MX-30 (rated at 100 miles) than the least-legged versions of EV pickup trucks, like the F-150 Lightning, that can manage 230 miles per the EPA.

And it's not a problem of overall battery capacity, either. The Endurance has a full 109 kWh of juice onboard. So the issue likely comes down to the Endurance's lackluster efficiency. Indeed, the mpge numbers tell the tale: 48 mpg combined, 49 city, and 46 highway. Whatever criticism you want to level at the EPA's testing regimen, comparing EPA numbers to numbers at least gives a sense of the relative efficiency of a vehicle (if not real-world figures). And by this measure, the EPA's least efficient pickup (the standard battery F-150 Lightning) manages 68 combined, 76 city, and 61 highway mpge—a significant difference.

It seems that designing an efficient BEV takes more system engineering than just some fancy styling.

Original Submission

upstart writes:

Newly discovered stone tools drag dawn of Greek archaeology back by a quarter-million years:

Deep in an open coal mine in southern Greece, researchers have discovered the antiquities-rich country's oldest archaeological site, which dates to 700,000 years ago and is associated with modern humans' hominin ancestors.

The find announced Thursday would drag the dawn of Greek archaeology back by as much as a quarter of a million years, although older hominin sites have been discovered elsewhere in Europe. The oldest, in Spain, dates to more than a million years ago.

[...] It was found to contain rough stone tools from the Lower Palaeolithic period—about 3.3 million to 300,000 years ago—and the remains of an extinct species of giant deer, elephants, hippopotamus, rhinoceros and a macaque monkey.

[...] The artifacts are "simple tools, like sharp stone flakes, belonging to the Lower Paleolithic stone tool industry," the co-directors said in comments e-mailed to The Associated Press.

They said it's possible the items were produced by Homo antecessor, the hominin species dating from that period in other parts of Europe. Homo antecessor is believed to have been the last common ancestor of modern humans and their extinct Neanderthal cousins, who diverged about 800,000 years ago.

"However, we will not be able to be sure until hominin fossil remains are recovered," the project directorss said. "(The site) is the oldest currently known hominin presence in Greece, and it pushes back the known archaeological record in the country by up to 250,000 years."

[...] The area has long been known as a source of fossils, and in ancient times huge prehistoric bones dug up there were linked with the Greek myths of a long-vanished race of giants that fought the gods of Olympus. Some ancient writers cited Megalopolis as the site of a major battle in that supernatural war.

Original Submission

upstart writes:

Twitter's second head of trust and safety under owner Elon Musk has resigned, according to reports:

Ella Irwin took the post when previous head Yoel Roth left in November 2022 - a month after Mr Musk took over the company.

The head of trust and safety is tasked with content moderation, a topic which has come under the spotlight since Mr Musk's takeover.

The BBC has approached Twitter and Ms Irwin for comment.

She confirmed to both Reuters and the Wall Street Journal that she has stepped down. The reason for her resignation is unclear.

However, it comes a day after Mr Musk publicly criticised a content moderation decision made at Twitter.

He called the decision to limit the visibility of a video over allegations of misgendering, "a mistake by many people at Twitter".

"Whether or not you agree with using someone's preferred pronouns, not doing so is at most rude and certainly breaks no laws," he wrote.

It comes a week after the social media platform pulled out of the European Union's voluntary code to fight disinformation.

Original Submission

liar writes:

CUPERTINO, California, June 5 (Reuters) - Apple Inc (AAPL.O) unveiled an augmented-reality headset called the Apple Vision Pro at its annual software developer conference on Monday, its first big move into a new product category since the introduction of the Apple Watch nine years ago.

CEO Tim Cook described it as "spatial computing" with the device controlled by your eyes, hands and voice.

"It's the first Apple product you look through, not at," Cook said.

Apple's human interface chief Alan Dye said that users will select content inside the goggles with their eyes, tap their fingers together to click and gently flick to scroll.

The device also has an exterior display that shows the user's eyes to people on the outside world. The exterior screen goes dark when a user is fully immersed in a virtual world. When a person approaches a user who is in full virtual mode, the headset will show both the user and the outside person to each other. "You're never isolated from people around you," Dye said. "You can see them, and they can see you."

For work uses, Apple showed how the headset can be used with a trackpad and keyboard to work like a traditional computer with multiple displays.

https://www.reuters.com/technology/apple-expected-reveal-mixed-reality-headset-developer-conference-2023-06-05/

Original Submission