Signal Back After 24 Hours of Outages Caused by Surging Traffic

“After experiencing technical difficulties Friday, the Signal messaging app appears to be back up and running,” reports the Verge: The company tweeted Saturday night that it was “back,” although added that some users may still see error messages in their chats. The company didn’t explain what caused the outage. For users still seeing error messages in their chats — which the…

2020 tied for warmest year on record

2020 was Earth’s hottest year in the 140-year record, effectively tying 2016, the previous record-holder. Source: https://earthsky.org/earth/2020-tied-for-warmest-global-year-on-record…

Error-protected quantum bits entangled for the first time

For the first time, physicists from the University of Innsbruck have entangled two quantum bits distributed over several quantum objects and successfully transmitted their quantum properties. This marks an important milestone in the development of fault-tolerant quantum computers. The researchers published their report in Nature. …

Tonight is New Year’s Eve in the Julian calendar

Happy Julian New Year! January 13, 2021, marks the last day of the year in the old-style Julian calendar. Why, and what happened when the calendars switched. Source: https://earthsky.org/tonight/julian-calendar-new-years-eve…

A Year After Microsoft Ended All Support for Windows 7, Millions of Users Are Still Not Upgrading

Ed Bott, writing at ZDNet: With a heartfelt nod to Monty Python, Windows 7 would like you all to know that it’s not dead yet. A year after Microsoft officially ended support for its long-running OS, a small but determined population of PC users would rather fight than switch. How many? No one knows for sure, but that number has shrunk…

‘Unforced Error’ in Suspected Russian Data Breach May Have Led to Its Discovery

CNN reports:
US officials and private sector experts investigating the massive data breach that has rocked Washington increasingly believe the attackers were ultimately discovered because they took a more aggressive “calculated risk” that led to a possible “unforced error” as they tried to expand their access within the network they had penetrated months earlier without detection, according to a US official and…

Quantum Computer Makers Like Their Odds For Big Progress

For years, quantum computing has been the preserve of academics. New advances, however, are pushing this potentially revolutionary technology toward practical applications. From a report: At the Q2B conference this month, quantum computer makers Google, IBM, Honeywell, IonQ and Xanadu detailed specific steps they expect by 2024 that will push their machines further down the road of commercial practicality. Those achievements…

Cyberpunk Maker CD Projekt Sued by Investor Over Botched Launch

CD Projekt SA, the Polish video-game publisher of Cyberpunk 2077, was sued by an investor who claims the company misled him about the potential of the error-plagued game whose botched release this month caused shares to dive. From a report: Andrew Trampe sued Thursday in federal court in Los Angeles and seeks to represent other investors who bought the company’s securities….

Facebook’s Small Advertisers Say They’re Hurt by AI Lockouts

Small advertisers that rely on Facebook to spread marketing messages are up in arms over the social network’s automated ad systems, complaining that inflexible account blocking tools and a lack of customer assistance are hurting business. From a report: One digital marketer, Chris Raines, was setting up an advertising campaign on Facebook last week when his account abruptly stopped working. Raines…

Tech Giants Will Block Kazakhstan’s Web Surveillance Efforts Again

Apple, Google, Microsoft and Mozilla have teamed up to block the Kazakhstan government’s attempts to force its citizens to install a “national security certificate” on every internet-capable device in the country. “That government-issued root certificate would allow authorities to keep tabs on people’s online traffic, essentially becoming a back door to access citizens’ data,” reports Engadget. From the report: In its…