“Despite Microsoft’s assurances, Windows 10 1803 isn’t ready for prime time,” writes ComputerWorld’s Woody Leonhard, adding “Microsoft’s patches in June took on some unexpected twists…”
Win10 1803 was declared fully fit for business, a pronouncement that was followed weeks later by fixes for a few glaring, acknowledged bugs — and stony silence for other known problems. We’re continuing the two-big-cumulative-updates-a-month pace for all supported versions of Windows 10. The second cumulative update frequently fixes bugs introduced by the first cumulative update. Microsoft may think that Win10 (1803) is ready for widespread deployment, but there are a few folks who would take issue with that stance…
Tuesday, Microsoft finally released a fix for two big bugs that have dogged Win10 1803 since its inception… In practice, life isn’t so simple. WSUS (the Windows Update Server software) isn’t “seeing” KB 4284848, as of late Wednesday afternoon — which may be a good thing. Along with the second cumulative update this month, there are additional releases to fix the Servicing Stack, and a new “Compatibility update” that, per the documentation, is designed to make it easier to upgrade Win10 1803 Enterprise to Win10 1803 Enterprise (not a typo)…
One problem that has been acknowledged — but only by a Microsoft Agent on an Answers Forum post — says that installing 1803 can clobber your peer-to-peer network. That certainly matches my experience.
Woody concludes, “If you think Win10 1803 is ready for prime time, you’re welcome to give it a try.”

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Source: Slashdot – ComputerWorld Says Newest Windows 10 ‘Isn’t Ready for Prime Time’

97% of us don’t wash our hands properly, a new government study concludes. An anonymous reader quotes CNN:
The study from the U.S. Department of Agriculture shows most consumers failed to wash their hands and rub with soap for 20 seconds. That’s the amount of time recommended by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, which says that washing for shorter periods means fewer germs are removed. “Numerous” study participants also didn’t dry their hands with a clean towel.
The study involved 383 people in six test kitchen facilities in the metro Raleigh-Durham area of North Carolina and in rural Smithfield, North Carolina, the USDA said… About half the time, participants spread bacteria to spice containers while preparing burgers, and 11% of the time, they spread bacteria to refrigerator handles… The results from the USDA’s study indicate our hand-washing habits may be getting worse. A study done in 2013 by Michigan State University found only 5% of people washed their hands correctly….
A separate study released this month found 49 of 100 towels tested showed growth of bacteria normally found in or on the human body.
CNN helpfully provides the proper method for handwashing. (Wet hands, lather them with soap — between fingers and under fingernails — and then scrub for at least 20 seconds.) They recommend singing the alphabet song once or “Happy Birthday” twice.
Just in America, foodborne illnesses sicken 48 million people each year, sending 128,000 to hospitals and resulting in 3,000 deaths.

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Source: Slashdot – US Government Study Concludes: You’re Probably Washing Your Hands Wrong

An anonymous reader quotes Reuters:
Bitcoin’s value slid to its lowest level since November on Friday, as waning investor interest and recent negative headlines from global regulators weakened demand for the cryptocurrency and most of its rivals. Virtual currencies, including the best-known and biggest, bitcoin, have been stuck in a downward trend for most of 2018 after last year’s frenzied interest fizzled. Recent hacks and the “cyber intrusion” of cryptocurrency exchanges in key Asian markets has also encouraged investors to exit.

Bitcoin fell to as low as $5,774 on the Bitstamp exchange, the lowest since November 12… So far in 2018, bitcoin has tumbled almost 60 percent after soaring more than 1,300 percent last year. It is now down 70 percent from its December peak… The total market capitalization of cryptocurrencies has fallen to around $230 billion from a peak of around $800 billion in January.

Will Hobbs, Head of Investment Strategy at Barclays Smart Investor, now tells Reuters that “None of the crypto currencies currently fulfill any of the criteria that we would look for in an investible asset, and we would continue to advise extreme caution. The rout in crypto currencies is still not finished.”

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Source: Slashdot – Bitcoin Drops Below ,000, An 8-Month Low

Bloomberg Businessweek Middle East reports:
India’s space program wants to go where no nation has gone before — to the south side of the moon. And once it gets there, it will study the potential for mining a source of waste-free nuclear energy that could be worth trillions of dollars. The nation’s equivalent of NASA will launch a rover in October to explore virgin territory on the lunar surface and analyze crust samples for signs of water and helium-3. That isotope is limited on Earth yet so abundant on the moon that it theoretically could meet global energy demands for 250 years if harnessed….

[A]ccomplishing feats on the cheap has been a hallmark of the agency since the 1960s. The upcoming mission will cost about $125 million — or less than a quarter of Snap Inc. co-founder Evan Spiegel’s compensation last year, the highest for an executive of a publicly traded company, according to the Bloomberg Pay Index… The upcoming launch of Chandrayaan-2 includes an orbiter, lander and a rectangular rover. The six-wheeled vehicle, powered by solar energy, will collect information for at least 14 days and cover an area with a 400-meter radius. The rover will send images to the lander, and the lander will transmit those back to ISRO for analysis. A primary objective, though, is to search for deposits of helium-3. Solar winds have bombarded the moon with immense quantities of helium-3 because it’s not protected by a magnetic field like Earth is.
The European Space Agency points out that helium-3 isotope isn’t radioactive and “would not produce dangerous waste products.” And one former member of the NASA Advisory Council estimates that the moon-derived fuel could generate enough power to meet the world’s energy demands for between two at least two centuries.

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Source: Slashdot – The Quest To Find Nuclear Fuel On the Moon