The Stack Overflow Survey Results for 2019 are in! The dataset is quite large; according to the description:read more
Source: LXer – Analyzing the Stack Overflow Survey with Python and Pandas
Monthly Archives: September 2019
Pager Services To End Tuesday In Japan After 50 Years
Japan’s sole pager provider, Tokyo Telemessage Inc, will shut down radio signals for its services Tuesday, ending support for the device first introduced in the country half a century ago. Japan Today reports: In recent years, the device had been favored mainly by those working in hospitals, where cellphone use was once discouraged because of concerns over the effect of electromagnetic waves on medical devices and where cellphone reception can sometimes be poor. Beeper services in Japan began in 1968 with the predecessor of Nippon Telegraph and Telephone Corp. Users would call a specific number via a landline, causing the device to emit a beeping sound. But from the late 1980s onward, the popularity of pagers grew as they could be used to send messages combining numbers and text characters.
The number of pager users exceeded 10 million in 1996, with the device becoming one of the defining symbols of a subculture among female high school students along with “loose socks” and taking photos in puri-kura photo booths. However, beeper services declined with the introduction of mobile phones. The number of pager users further decreased as e-mailing, texting as well as taking and sending pictures by phone became standard.
Read more of this story at Slashdot.
Source: Slashdot – Pager Services To End Tuesday In Japan After 50 Years
Pioneer's DDJ-XP2 brings 16 pads per deck to Serato DJ Pro
A couple of years ago, Pioneer released the DJ DDJ-XP1, a controller full of touchpads and slide controls that DJs could use along with other equipment when they wanted to focus on live remixing and loop-based performances. While it improved on its p…
Source: Engadget – Pioneer’s DDJ-XP2 brings 16 pads per deck to Serato DJ Pro
Good List of 5 Open Source Log Management Software
There are tons of proprietary closed-source log management software that would charge you a lot of money via a monthly subscription based on the size of log files you analyze, the storage/rotation time.. etc, and other great free open source solutions that you can use. In this list, we introduce 5 of them.
Source: LXer – Good List of 5 Open Source Log Management Software
'PUBG Mobile' will add characters and gear from 'The Walking Dead'
The PUBG team is continuing its quest to counter Fortnite’s media tie-ins. PUBG Mobile is adding a handful of characters and equipment from AMC’s version of The Walking Dead on October 1st, giving you that little bit of extra menace in battle royale…
Source: Engadget – ‘PUBG Mobile’ will add characters and gear from ‘The Walking Dead’
Intro to Ansible Tower
Not sure whether you need Red Hat Ansible or Red Hat Ansible Tower? Read on, and learn how to get started with Ansible Tower as well #EnableSysadmin by @HERontheCLI
Source: LXer – Intro to Ansible Tower
Dyson's latest air purifier destroys formaldehyde
You may not know this, but formaldehyde could be one of the many pollutants in your home causing irritation to your eyes, nose and throat. Existing air purifiers remove the compound from the environment by using activated charcoal, but that process s…
Source: Engadget – Dyson’s latest air purifier destroys formaldehyde
Unruly Airport Cart Tries to Ram Plane at O'Hare, Is Promptly Sideswiped by Worker Driving Another One
Good night, sweet prince: An out of control, apparently furious, and driverless catering cart that was spinning in wild circles on the tarmac of Chicago O’Hare International Airport (ORD) on Monday was laid to its final rest by a quick-witted worker who prevented it from hitting a plane by slamming into it with…
Source: Gizmodo – Unruly Airport Cart Tries to Ram Plane at O’Hare, Is Promptly Sideswiped by Worker Driving Another One
Google is launching car crash detection for Pixel phones in the US
Google’s Pixel users in the US will soon have access to car crash detection features similar to Uber RideCheck’s. XDA-Developers has spotted an unannounced app named “Personal Safety” on Google Play, which is described as “an app for Pixel phones tha…
Source: Engadget – Google is launching car crash detection for Pixel phones in the US
Vizio's best TV from last year is on sale for $1,080
As usual, one of the biggest questions about buying a new TV is whether to buy a “new” model or grab one of last year’s editions for a little bit less. It’s been more than a year since Vizio debuted the P Series Quantum line that we loved at first si…
Source: Engadget – Vizio’s best TV from last year is on sale for ,080
How to Clear the DropBox Cache on Ubuntu
In this article, we will explain how you can clear the Dropbox cache both through the UI and the command line on Ubuntu Linux.
Source: LXer – How to Clear the DropBox Cache on Ubuntu
Fake Lighting Cables That Can Hijack Connected Devices Are Heading for Mass Production
Dummy Lightning cables that allow an attacker to gain remote control of computers they’re plugged into are slated to hit mass production, per a Wednesday report in Motherboard.
Source: Gizmodo – Fake Lighting Cables That Can Hijack Connected Devices Are Heading for Mass Production
Thousands of Ships Fitted With 'Cheat Devices' To Divert Poisonous Pollution Into Sea
Volkswagen, BMW, and Daimler aren’t the only companies using “cheat devices” to get around environmental legislation. According to The Independent, “global shipping companies have spent billions rigging vessels with ‘cheat devices’ that circumvent new environmental legislation by dumping pollution into the sea instead of the air.” From the report: More than $12 billion has been spent on the devices, known as open-loop scrubbers, which extract sulphur from the exhaust fumes of ships that run on heavy fuel oil. This means the vessels meet standards demanded by the International Maritime Organization (IMO) that kick in on January 1st. However, the sulphur emitted by the ships is simply re-routed from the exhaust and expelled into the water around the ships, which not only greatly increases the volume of pollutants being pumped into the sea, but also increases carbon dioxide emissions.
A total of 3,756 ships, both in operation and under order, have already had scrubbers installed according to DNV GL, the world’s largest ship classification company. Only 23 of these vessels have had closed-loop scrubbers installed, a version of the device that does not discharge into the sea and stores the extracted sulphur in tanks before discharging it at a safe disposal facility in a port. The Exhaust Gas Cleaning System Association has estimated that 4,000 ships will be operating with scrubbers by the time the legislation is enforced, up from fewer than a hundred in 2013. For every ton of fuel burned, ships using open-loop scrubbers emit approximately 45 tons of warm, acidic, contaminated washwater containing carcinogens including polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) and heavy metals, according to the International Council on Clean Transportation (ICCT), a non-profit organization that provides scientific analysis to environmental regulators.
Read more of this story at Slashdot.
Source: Slashdot – Thousands of Ships Fitted With ‘Cheat Devices’ To Divert Poisonous Pollution Into Sea
US Dept of Education Has Big Payday For K-12 CS, Including Tech-Backed Code.org
theodp writes: On Friday, U.S. Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos announced $123 million in new Education Innovation and Research (EIR) grant awards to 41 school districts, nonprofits and state educational agencies. Over $78 million of that went to 29 grantees focused on Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math (STEM) education, and more than 85% of the funded STEM projects include a specific focus on computer science. The announcement was scant on details, but the awardees listed include tech-bankrolled Code.org, whose Board of Directors include Microsoft President Brad Smith, Amazon CEO of Worldwide Consumer Jeff Wilke, and Google VP of Education & University Programs Maggie Johnson. In his new book, Tools and Weapons, Smith interestingly reveals how Microsoft, Amazon, and Google each pledged to commit $50 million to K-12 computer science education to get First Daughter and Presidential Adviser Ivanka Trump to work to secure $1 billion of Federal support for K-12 STEM/CS education.
From the book: “While you would be hard-pressed to say that every student must take computer science, you could say that every student deserves the opportunity. That means getting computer science into every high school, and into earlier grades as well. The only way to train teachers at this scale is for federal funding to help fill the gap. After years of lobbying, there was a breakthrough in federal interest in 2016. In January President Obama announced a bold proposal to invest $4 billion of federal money to bring computer science to the nation’s schools. While the proposal produced enthusiasm, it didn’t spur Congress to appropriate any new money. Ivanka Trump had more success the following year. Even before her father had moved into the White House, she was interested in federal investments in computer science in schools. She was confident she could persuade the president to support the idea, but she also believed that the key to public money was to secure substantial private funding from major technology companies. She said she would work to secure $1 billion of federal support over five years if the tech sector would pledge $300 million during the same time. As always, there was the question of whether someone would go first. The White House was looking for a company to get things rolling by pledging $50 million over five years. Given Microsoft’s long-standing involvement, financial support, and prior advocacy with the Obama White House, we were a natural choice. We agreed to make the commitment, other companies followed, and in September 2017 Mary Snapp, the head of Microsoft Philanthropies, joined Ivanka in Detroit to make the announcement.” The $300 million was apparently money well-pledged. Surrounded by children, educators, Ivanka Trump and Education Secretary Betsy DeVos, President Trump in late 2017 signed a presidential memorandum directed to DeVos calling for the expansion of K-12 computer science and STEM education in the U.S. with at least $200 million in annual grant funding.
Read more of this story at Slashdot.
Source: Slashdot – US Dept of Education Has Big Payday For K-12 CS, Including Tech-Backed Code.org
New Microsoft Surface lineup leaks ahead of Wednesday's unveiling
Wondering what’s in store for the Microsoft Surface event on Wednesday? Evan Blass has posted renderings of several devices, including a Surface Pro 7 that brings a USB-C connector instead of Mini DisplayPort, and 10th-gen Intel Core CPUs inside. He…
Source: Engadget – New Microsoft Surface lineup leaks ahead of Wednesday’s unveiling
Ask Slashdot: Will P2P Video Sites Someday Replace YouTube?
dryriver writes: BitChute is a video-hosting website like YouTube, except that it states its mission as being “anti-censorship” and is Peer-To-Peer, WebTorrent based. “It is based on the peer-to-peer WebTorrent system, a JavaScript torrenting program that can run in a web browser,” according to Wikipedia. “Users who watch a video also seed it. BitChute does not rely on advertising, and users can send payments to video creators directly. In November 2018 BitChute was banned from PayPal.” So it seems that you don’t need huge datacenters to build something like YouTube — Bitchute effectively relies on its users to act as a distributed P2P datacenter. Is this the future of internet video? Will more and more people flock to P2P video-hosting sites as/when more mainstream services like YouTube fall prey to various forms of censorship?
Read more of this story at Slashdot.
Source: Slashdot – Ask Slashdot: Will P2P Video Sites Someday Replace YouTube?
Apple's improved Maps expand across the northeast US
Apple is starting to roll out its major Maps update more broadly across the US. It overhauled the app for iOS 13 with revamped maps for parts of California and Texas, and now it’s expanding its new and improved Maps across the northeast US.
Source: Engadget – Apple’s improved Maps expand across the northeast US
Service robot runs on 9th Gen Coffee Lake system with nine GbE ports
Vecow announced a service robot that runs Linux or Windows with ROS on its rugged, Coffee Lake based, 9x GbE equipped “ECX-1000” computer, which recently added support for 9th Gen CPUs. Taiwan-based Vecow announced that its rugged, Intel Coffee Lake based ECX-1000 computer is driving a new professional service robot aimed at Asian markets. The […]
Source: LXer – Service robot runs on 9th Gen Coffee Lake system with nine GbE ports
Today’s selection of articles from Kotaku’s reader-run community: Sanitarium Is A Weird And Spooky A
Today’s selection of articles from Kotaku’s reader-run community: Sanitarium Is A Weird And Spooky Adventure Game That Doesn’t Have Much To Say • I Was Wrong About Diamond Is Unbreakable • TAY Retro: NES – “Konami – So Real!” [TV Commercial, NA]
Source: Kotaku – Today’s selection of articles from Kotaku’s reader-run community: Sanitarium Is A Weird And Spooky A
Legit-Looking iPhone Lightning Cables That Hack You Will Be Mass Produced and Sold
An anonymous reader quotes a report from Motherboard: Soon it may be easier to get your hands on a cable that looks just like a legitimate Apple lightning cable, but which actually lets you remotely take over a computer. The security researcher behind the recently developed tool announced over the weekend that the cable has been successfully made in a factory. MG is the creator of the O.MG Cable. It charges phones and transfers data in the same way an Apple cable does, but it also contains a wireless hotspot that a hacker can connect to. Once they’ve done that, a hacker can run commands on the computer, potentially rummaging through a victim’s files, for instance.
After demoing the cable for Motherboard at the Def Con hacking conference this summer, MG said “It’s like being able to sit at the keyboard and mouse of the victim but without actually being there.” At the time, MG was selling the handmade cables at the conference for $200 each. Now that production process has been streamlined. This doesn’t necessarily mean that factories are churning out O.MG Cables right now, but it shows that their manufacture can be fully outsourced, and MG doesn’t have to make the cables by hand.
Read more of this story at Slashdot.
Source: Slashdot – Legit-Looking iPhone Lightning Cables That Hack You Will Be Mass Produced and Sold