Huawei CFO Says HSBC Emails Disprove Basis For US Extradition Claim

AltMachine shares a report from Reuters: “Lawyers fighting the extradition of Huawei’s chief financial officer to the United States on Tuesday presented internal emails from British bank HSBC that they said disproved U.S. claims that Huawei misled the bank,” reports Reuters. “CFO Meng Wanzhou’s legal team said the emails and documents submitted to a Canadian court showed at least two senior HSBC leaders were aware of connections between Huawei and its Iranian subsidiary, Skycom. Meng’s lawyers are trying to add the documents to evidence. They are meant to counter U.S. charges that only junior employees of the British bank knew about the true nature of relationship between Huawei and Skycom. U.S. prosecutors have alleged that Meng misled HSBC about Huawei’s business dealings in Iran and may have caused the bank to break U.S. sanctions.”

Business dealings with Iran was not illegal under Canada laws as the sanction was not a UN resolution and had no legal basis internationally. The only way for the extradition to proceed would be to show Huawei misled HSBC which operates in the U.S. Amid intensifying US-China technology and economic rivalry, it is not the first time the U.S. law enforcement fabricating false accusation against Chinese or China-linked persons. Earlier in April, U.S. court trial reveals federal agents falsely accused a UT professor born in China of spying and three Congressmen are asking the Department of Justice Office of the Inspector General to “review whether the China Initiative puts untoward pressure on DOJ personnel to engage in racial or ethnic profiling.” Federal agents falsely accused Hu of spying for China based solely on a Google search, testimony revealed. After Hu refused to work as a spy for the U.S. government, agents stalked and harassed him for more than two years, leading to the destruction of his reputation and internationally renowned career.

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Source: Slashdot – Huawei CFO Says HSBC Emails Disprove Basis For US Extradition Claim

Delta variant’s wild spread raises fears, fresh scrutiny of CDC mask guidance

Crowds move past indoor food vendors.

Enlarge / Masked and unmasked people make their way through Grand Central Market in Los Angeles, California, on June 29, 2021, as the World Health Organization (WHO) urges fully vaccinated people to continue wearing masks with the rapid spread of the delta variant. (credit: Getty | FREDERIC J. BROWN)

The highly transmissible delta variant of the coronavirus is spreading like wildfire throughout the US, raising further concern for areas with low vaccination rates and renewing scrutiny of federal mask guidance.

The delta variant, first identified in India, now makes up more than 20 percent of cases in the US, with some estimates rising to at least 37 percent in recent days. The variant is rapidly overtaking the previously predominant variant in the US, Alpha, which was first identified in the UK and dominated the US in a matter of months this past spring. Scientists estimate that the alpha variant is around 50 percent more contagious than the original SARS-CoV-2 virus that exploded out of Wuhan, China.

Delta, on the other hand, is estimated to be 50 percent to 60 percent more contagious than Alpha. That is, it may be more than twice as contagious as the original virus.

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Source: Ars Technica – Delta variant’s wild spread raises fears, fresh scrutiny of CDC mask guidance

Apple Makes OS X Lion and Mountain Lion Free To Download

Mac OS X Lion and OS X Mountain Lion can now be downloaded for free from Apple’s website. “Apple has kept OS X 10.7 Lion and OS X 10.8 Mountain Lion available for customers who have machines limited to the older software, but until recently, Apple was charging $19.99 to get download codes for the updates,” notes MacRumors. “The $19.99 fee dates back to when Apple used to charge for Mac updates. Apple began making Mac updates free with the launch of OS X 10.9 Mavericks, which also marked the shift from big cat names to California landmark names.” From the report: Mac OS X Lion is compatible with Macs that have an Intel Core 2 Duo, Core i3, Core i5, Core i7, or Xeon processor, a minimum of 2GB RAM, and 7GB storage space. Mac OS X Mountain Lion is compatible with the following Macs: iMac (Mid 2007-2020), MacBook (Late 2008 Aluminum, or Early 2009 or newer), MacBook Pro (Mid/Late 2007 or newer), MacBook Air (Late 2008 or newer), Mac mini (Early 2009 or newer), Mac Pro (Early 2008 or newer), and Xserve (Early 2009). Macs that shipped with Mac OS X Mavericks or later are not compatible with the installer, however.

Read more of this story at Slashdot.



Source: Slashdot – Apple Makes OS X Lion and Mountain Lion Free To Download

[$] Mozilla Rally: trading privacy for the "public good"

A new project from Mozilla, which is meant to help researchers collect
browsing data, but only with the informed consent of the browser-user, is taking a lot of
heat, perhaps in part because the company can never seem to do anything
right, at least in the
eyes of some. Mozilla Rally was
announced
on June 25 as joint venture between the company and researchers at
Princeton University “to enable crowdsourced science for public
good
“. The idea is that users can volunteer to give academic studies access to
the same kinds of browser data that is being tracked in some browsers
today. Whether the privacy safeguards are strong
enough—and if there is sufficient reason for users to sign up—remains to be seen.

Source: LWN.net – [$] Mozilla Rally: trading privacy for the “public good”

I Had to See This Space Jam: A New Legacy Clip, and Now You Do Too

In some ways, Space Jam fans were dreading this since the moment the first trailer essentially turned “cartoons play sci-fi basketball” into “what if Ready Player One had exclusive access to the Warner Bros. back catalogue?” but truly, to see this Matrix riff in action is… well, it’s a lot.

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Source: Gizmodo – I Had to See This Space Jam: A New Legacy Clip, and Now You Do Too

Is remmina useful for your daily work?

Remmina is a Remote Desktop Client that supports numerous protocols allowing you to connect to many remote systems. This full featured client program allows you to set up a shared folder, select the screen size and type of connection being used. There are many more options that give you the ability to customize your connection […]

Source: LXer – Is remmina useful for your daily work?

Throwable Ground Vehicles Sent to Aid Rescuers at Florida Condo Collapse

A company that makes small, mobile robots with thermal imaging cameras, Teledyne Flir, overnighted two of them to the Miami-Dade Fire Department in the hope they may help with the ongoing search-and-rescue effort following a disastrous condo collapse in Surfside, Florida.

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Source: Gizmodo – Throwable Ground Vehicles Sent to Aid Rescuers at Florida Condo Collapse

Carrier Caught Injecting 'SMS AD' Into Google Verification Code Message

An anonymous reader quotes a report from 9to5Google: SMS is widely regarded as an insecure form of two-factor authentication, and another example of this has just emerged. A carrier looks to be injecting ads into the Google verification code used to sign in to services like Gmail. Action Launcher developer Chris Lacy today tweeted how his Google verification code — which starts with “G-” — featured an “SMS AD.” The advertisement — for a VPN — includes a quick message and short URL. For those that immediately suspect this is just a phishing attempt, the verification code is legitimate and was requested by Lacy to successfully verify a login attempt. Google Messages even flagged the link/message as spam. As such, Googlers responding to the thread suspect this is an occurrence of a carrier appending an ad — note the extra spaces — into a real text message. It’s very unlikely that Google’s security teams would allow advertising into a very crucial part of the login process where end user trust is paramount.

Google issued the following statement to us today: “These are not our ads and we are currently working with the wireless carrier to understand why this happened.” Google confirms that the “SMS AD” did not originate from its own advertising network. Meanwhile, it’s working with the wireless carrier in question to find out what occurred. Lacy has decided “not to state the carrier for privacy reasons,” and Google did not share that information either.

Read more of this story at Slashdot.



Source: Slashdot – Carrier Caught Injecting ‘SMS AD’ Into Google Verification Code Message

United’s Newest Planes Finally Support Bluetooth Audio, and It’s About Damn Time

United just announced that it’s making a massive purchase of 270 new planes. Better yet, those planes will have upgraded cabin technology, like upgraded in-seat displays, faster wifi, and, most notably, support for Bluetooth audio. And while it’s about time United’s planes got some new tech, I’m also wondering if it’s…

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Source: Gizmodo – United’s Newest Planes Finally Support Bluetooth Audio, and It’s About Damn Time

Robinhood Ordered to Pay Millions In Restitution to Ripped Off Customers

After facing countless class actions and probes from multiple regulators, the financial platform Robinhood is finally paying up. On Wednesday, the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) announced it fined the company $57 million and ordered the company to pay back $12.6 million in restitution, plus interest,…

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Source: Gizmodo – Robinhood Ordered to Pay Millions In Restitution to Ripped Off Customers

Tim Berners-Lee Sells NFT of the Source Code for the World Wide Web for $5.4 Million

The foundation of the web is worth $5.4 million, apparently. In an online auction at Sotheby’s today, founder of the modern internet Tim Berners-Lee sold an NFT of the source code for the World Wide Web, which he authored in 1989. Berners-Lee has said he plans to donate the money to yet-unspecified charitable causes.…

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Source: Gizmodo – Tim Berners-Lee Sells NFT of the Source Code for the World Wide Web for .4 Million

Breath Of The Wild Player Opens The Game's Final 'Impossible' Chest

There are tough video game secrets, and then there are challenges that were simply never meant to be overcome by humans—or perhaps meant to be at all. The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild’s “impossible” chest fits that bill and then some. Now, four years after the game’s release, somebody has finally opened it.

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Source: Kotaku – Breath Of The Wild Player Opens The Game’s Final ‘Impossible’ Chest

Star Wars Detours Probably Won't Ever Be Released and Here's Why

Somewhere, 39 completed, official episodes of a Star Wars television show exist. A show George Lucas helped create. A show with Darth Vader, Han Solo, Obi-Wan Kenobi, and more. And yet, according to the show’s co-creator, odds are we’ll never get to see any of it.

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Source: Gizmodo – Star Wars Detours Probably Won’t Ever Be Released and Here’s Why

Spotify is reportedly thinking about expanding into ticketed events

Spotify is reportedly “considering” expanding into events, according to The Information. The outlet reports the company could sell tickets for both virtual and live concerts as it looks to diversify its business. However, making money off of ticketed events isn’t necessarily Spotify’s short-term goal. Its more immediate plan is to use them as a way to improve its relationship with artists.

The Information suggests Spotify thinks there’s an opportunity to leverage the data it has to help musicians plan successful concerts in places most promoters avoid. In this way, the company is said to believe it can better show those artists it’s invested in their careers. It would also be a way for it to differentiate its platform from Apple Music.

Spotify has already dabbled in live events. This past spring, the company put on a handful of prerecorded virtual concerts featuring artists like The Black Keys and Leon Bridges. It sold tickets to those shows for $15 each. The Information reports the results of those concerts “validated” Spotify’s thinking on what events could do for it in the future, and it’s been thinking about next steps ever since. Of course, we wouldn’t say that makes an expansion is a done deal. Selling tickets to concerts might make a lot of sense for a music streaming platform, but it would still represent a massive business shift for Spotify.    



Source: Engadget – Spotify is reportedly thinking about expanding into ticketed events

Oklo Has a Plan To Make Tiny Nuclear Reactors That Run Off Nuclear Waste

An anonymous reader shares a report: The face of nuclear energy is changing, and one of the companies working to redefine what nuclear energy looks like is Oklo. The 22-person Silicon Valley start-up has a plan to build mini-nuclear reactors, powered by the waste of conventional nuclear reactors and housed in aesthetically pleasing A-frame structures. “Microreactors are an exciting innovation that completely flips the technology story for nuclear energy,” Alex Gilbert, a project manager for nuclear power think tank the Nuclear Innovation Alliance, told CNBC.

Historically, nuclear energy producers aimed to be competitive with “economies of scale,” meaning they save money by being massive, Gilbert said. That strategy, however, often results in construction projects being mired in delays and cost overruns, like the Vogtle nuclear power plant in Georgia, where estimates for the project have ballooned from $14 billion to an estimated $27 billion or more. “Microreactors promise to turn this paradigm on its head by approaching cost competitiveness through technological learning,” Gilbert said. Oklo is the brainchild of the husband-and-wife co-founder team, Jacob DeWitte and Caroline Cochran, who met when they were teaching assistants in 2009 for the Massachusetts Institute of Technology’s Reactor Technology Course for utility executives with nuclear power plants as part of their grid.

Read more of this story at Slashdot.



Source: Slashdot – Oklo Has a Plan To Make Tiny Nuclear Reactors That Run Off Nuclear Waste

Exxon Lobbyists Reveal in Secret Recordings How They Manipulate Politicians and the Public

Two lobbyists for Exxon have been caught on tape admitting how the company manipulates politicians and the public. Among the damning admissions are that the company views its advocacy for a carbon tax as little more than “an advocacy tool” and that it once funded “shadow groups” to fight climate science.

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Source: Gizmodo – Exxon Lobbyists Reveal in Secret Recordings How They Manipulate Politicians and the Public