When Dave McKay first used computers, punched paper tape was in vogue, “and he has been programming ever since,” according to his biography page at How-To Geek. It adds that “His use of computers pre-dates the birth of the PC and the public release of Unix.” Now long-time Slashdot reader sbinning shares McKay’s “short history of UNIX and how Linux got…
Tag: dave
Firefox 85 Isolated Supercookies, But Dropped Progressive Web App Support
Tech blogger Paul Thurrott writes:
Firefox 85 now protects users against supercookies, which Mozilla says is “a type of tracker that can stay hidden in your browser and track you online, even after you clear cookies. By isolating supercookies, Firefox prevents them from tracking your web browsing from one site to the next.” It also includes small improvements to bookmarks and password…
Amazon Offers Biden Help With Covid-19 Vaccine Distribution
Amazon has extended an offer to President Joe Biden to assist with the national distribution of Covid-19 vaccines, a move that could expedite the federal effort to combat the pandemic. From a report: Dave Clark, the CEO of Amazon’s consumer business, and one of the company’s highest-ranking executives, sent a letter to the president shortly after he was sworn in Wednesday….
New Zealand’s Central Bank Says Its Data System Was Breached
The Associated Press reports:
New Zealand’s central bank said Sunday that one of its data systems has been breached by an unidentified hacker who potentially accessed commercially and personally sensitive information. A third party file sharing service used by the Reserve Bank of New Zealand to share and store sensitive information had been illegally accessed, the Wellington-based bank said in a statement….
Virgin Galactic Unexpectedly Aborted a Test Flight of Its Space Plane
CNN reports:
Virgin Galactic’s supersonic rocket plane was scheduled to fire into the upper atmosphere Saturday, but after climbing more than 40,000 feet over New Mexico attached to its mothership, the space plane made an unexpected turn toward home rather than shooting skyward. The company confirmed that the space plane, which was carrying test pilots CJ Sturckow and Dave Mackay, safely landed….
Microsoft Also Patented Tech to Score Meetings Using Filmed Body Language, Facial Expressions
Remember when Microsoft was criticized for enabling “workplace surveillance” over “productivity scores” in its Microsoft 365 office software which gave managers highly detailed profiles of each individual employee’s activity. Long-time Slashdot reader theodp writes:
The Microsoft 365 Productivity Score apparently has roots in another Microsoft patent application for Systems, Methods, and Software for Implementing a Behavior Change Management Program, which also lays…
Will Parler Spread Misinformation – or Just Segregate It Onto a Single App?
“The rising popularity of alternative social media app Parler is raising concerns over the spread of misinformation and potential for radicalizing users on a platform that’s taken a hands-off approach to regulating content,” reports The Hill’s reporter on technology policy: The app has been boosted by conservatives, surging since Election Day, as Republicans amp up allegations of anti-conservative bias from social…
Tips for watching N. Taurid meteors
The nominal peak of the North Taurid meteor shower is on the night of November 11-12, 2020. Source: https://earthsky.org/sky-archive/peak-night-for-n-taurid-meteor-shower-on-november-1112…
Astronomers measure a change in orbit for infamous asteroid Apophis
Astronomers in Hawaii have detected the Yarkovsky effect – a minuscule push imparted by sunlight – for asteroid Apophis. The effect is particularly important for Apophis, because it relates to the possibility of an Earth impact in 2068. Source: https://earthsky.org/space/asteroid-99942-apophis-encounters-2029-2036-2068…
Massive asteroid subject of new findings
A University of Hawaiʻi Institute for Astronomy (IfA) astronomer has revealed critical new findings linked to a large asteroid expected to pass extremely close to Earth. Dave Tholen and collaborators have announced the detection of Yarkovsky acceleration on the near-Earth asteroid Apophis. This acceleration arises from an extremely weak force on an object due to non-uniform thermal radiation. This force is…