With version 1.4, TLP has added support for setting start and/or stop charge battery thresholds for some laptops: ASUS, Huawei MateBooks, LG Gram, Lenovo (now for non-Thinkpads too; Thinkpads have been supported for a while) and Samsung.
Source: LXer – How To Set Charge Thresholds For Some Huawei MateBooks, LG Gram, Lenovo, Samsung Or ASUS Laptops With TLP
Monthly Archives: November 2021
Apple to Bring Employees Back to Office on Feb. 1 and Allow Some Remote Work
The boss has spoken (again): Apple employees will return to the office on Feb. 1, 2022.
Source: Gizmodo – Apple to Bring Employees Back to Office on Feb. 1 and Allow Some Remote Work
The Best PlayStations Were Beat To Hell
I remember the first PlayStation I ever had wasn’t even really mine, it was one that me and a bunch of guys I was living with in England had bought and shared. And while it worked, it was also in the worst shape imaginable, covered in stickers and chip dust and beer stains and God knows what else.
Source: Kotaku – The Best PlayStations Were Beat To Hell
Iodine-Powered Satellite Successfully Tested In Space For First Time
Tesseractic shares a report from New Scientist, written by Chen Ly: A satellite has been successfully powered by iodine for the first time. Iodine performed better than the traditional propellant of choice, xenon — highlighting iodine’s potential utility for future space missions. Currently, xenon is the main propellant used in electric propulsion systems, but the chemical is rare and expensive to produce. As a gas, xenon must also be stored at very high pressures, which requires specialized equipment. Iodine has a similar atomic mass to xenon but is more abundant and much cheaper. It can also be stored as an unpressurised solid, meaning it has the potential to simplify satellite designs.
Dmytro Rafalskyi at ThrustMe, a space technology company based in France, and his colleagues have developed an electric propulsion system that uses iodine. The propulsion system first heats up a solid block of iodine, turning it into a gas. The gas is bombarded with high-speed electrons, which turns it into a plasma of iodine ions and free electrons. Negatively charged hardware then accelerates the positively charged iodine ions from the plasma towards the system’s exhaust and propels the spacecraft forwards. […] The group found that the iodine system slightly outperformed xenon systems, with a higher overall energy efficiency, which showcases the viability of iodine as a propellant. “There are some difficulties with iodine that need to be addressed says Rafalskyi,” the report adds. “For example, iodine reacts with most metals, so the team had to use ceramics and polymers to protect parts of the propulsion system. In addition, solid iodine takes about 10 minutes to turn into a plasma, which may not provide a propellant quickly enough for emergency maneuvers to avoid an in-orbit collisions.”
The research has been published in the journal Nature.
Read more of this story at Slashdot.
Source: Slashdot – Iodine-Powered Satellite Successfully Tested In Space For First Time
How to Check if an RHEL System Is Vulnerable to a CVE
In this guide, learn how to check if an RHEL (or CentOS 6/7/8) system is vulnerable to a CVE. Also, learn how to mitigate these issues if you find your system is vulnerable.
The post How to Check if an RHEL System Is Vulnerable to a CVE appeared first on Linux Today.
Source: Linux Today – How to Check if an RHEL System Is Vulnerable to a CVE
Cybersecurity Insurance for Drones
Akihabara News (Tokyo) — Tokyo-based insurance company Aeroentry Co. has begun providing insurance services for drone cybersecurity. It is the first insurance service within Japan to cover losses in which cyberattacks are responsible for drone mishaps.
The drone cyberattack insurance service offered by Aeroentry has been approved under the DJI-insurance system, the largest drone insurance system in Japan.
In recent years, the risk of cyberattacks has threatened various industries in Japan. For example, the number of cyberattacks on communications networks has increased significantly, tripling in 2020 compared to 2017.
Automakers including Honda and Nissan have suffered significant cyberattacks in the past few years, temporarily shutting down their production lines.
On the other hand, the drone industry in Japan has remained unprotected from threats of this nature. Aeroentry foresees the necessity to develop an insurance policy that compensates victims if a cyberattack impacts drone flights.
The drone cyberattack insurance can cover up to ¥100 million (US$870,000) in liabilities, whether the damage be through accidents or information leakages.
Recent Drone Related Articles
Tokyo Government Preps Drone Food Delivery
Drone Delivery Begins for Remote Island
ANRA Brings SmartSkies to Japan
Yamato Explores Drug Delivery by Drone
Safety Parachutes for Industrial Drones
JP Rakuten Drone Delivery in Mountains
The post Cybersecurity Insurance for Drones appeared first on Akihabara News.
Source: Akihabara News – Cybersecurity Insurance for Drones
Thousands of Firefox Users Accidentally Commit Login Cookies On GitHub
Thousands of Firefox cookie databases containing sensitive data are available on request from GitHub repositories, data potentially usable for hijacking authenticated sessions. The Register reports: These cookies.sqlite databases normally reside in the Firefox profiles folder. They’re used to store cookies between browsing sessions. And they’re findable by searching GitHub with specific query parameters, what’s known as a search “dork.” Aidan Marlin, a security engineer at London-based rail travel service Trainline, alerted The Register to the public availability of these files after reporting his findings through HackerOne and being told by a GitHub representative that “credentials exposed by our users are not in scope for our Bug Bounty program.”
Marlin then asked whether he could make his findings public and was told he’s free to do so. “I’m frustrated that GitHub isn’t taking its users’ security and privacy seriously,” Marlin told The Register in an email. “The least it could do is prevent results coming up for this GitHub dork. If the individuals who uploaded these cookie databases were made aware of what they’d done, they’d s*** their pants.”
Marlin acknowledges that affected GitHub users deserve some blame for failing to prevent their cookies.sqlite databases from being included when they committed code and pushed it to their public repositories. “But there are nearly 4.5k hits for this dork, so I think GitHub has a duty of care as well,” he said, adding that he’s alerted the UK Information Commissioner’s Office because personal information is at stake. Marlin speculates that the oversight is a consequence of committing code from one’s Linux home directory. “I imagine in most of the cases, the individuals aren’t aware that they’ve uploaded their cookie databases,” he explained. “A common reason users do this is for a common environment across multiple machines.”
Read more of this story at Slashdot.
Source: Slashdot – Thousands of Firefox Users Accidentally Commit Login Cookies On GitHub
Integrate ONLYOFFICE Docs with Redmine on Ubuntu
ONLYOFFICE Docs can be integrated with various cloud services such as Nextcloud, ownCloud, Seafile, Alfresco, Plone, etc., as well as embedded into your own solution. In this tutorial, we’ll learn how to connect ONLYOFFICE Docs and Redmine instances using an integration app.
The post Integrate ONLYOFFICE Docs with Redmine on Ubuntu appeared first on Linux Today.
Source: Linux Today – Integrate ONLYOFFICE Docs with Redmine on Ubuntu
7 Linux command-line tips for saving media file space
Have media files on your computer? You can likely reclaim significant disk space by storing that data in more space-efficient file formats. This article demonstrates how to use Linux line commands to perform the most common space-saving conversions. I use line commands because they give you complete control over compression and format conversion features. Also, you’ll need to use line commands if you want to write scripts. That allows you to develop programs that are custom-tailored to your own unique needs.
Source: LXer – 7 Linux command-line tips for saving media file space
New study debunks controversial 2015 fossil find: It’s not a four-limbed snake after all
Enlarge / In this artist’s representation, Tetrapodophis amplectus glides through a tangle of branches from the conifer Duartenia araripensis that have fallen into the water, sharing this habitat with a water bug in the family Belostomatidae and small fish. (credit: Julius Csotonyi)
The discovery of a rare Cretaceous fossil that could have been a missing link in the evolution of modern snakes made headlines in 2015. It was dubbed Tetrapodophis amplectus (“four-footed serpent”) and proved controversial from the start, with some paleontologists questioning the interpretation that it was a protosnake. Now there is strong evidence that this latter view may be the correct one and that the specimen is more likely an early type of lizard, according to a a new paper published in the Journal of Systematic Paleontology.
Paleontologists have long suspected that snakes evolved from lizards at some point in the distant past, gradually losing their limbs. Thus, there should be an evolutionary predecessor with four limbs. This prediction was bolstered in 2006 with the discovery of a transitional snake-like fossil (Najash rionegrina) with two hind limbs dating back some 95 million years. There is also an ongoing debate about whether snakes originated in a marine or terrestrial environment, and the 2006 fossil supported the latter hypothesis.
Then, in 2015, the University of Portsmouth’s David Martill and co-author Nicholas Longrich of the University of Bath published a description of a four-legged fossil they claimed was the first known example of a four-legged protosnake with forelimbs and hindlimbs in the fossil record. Martill had stumbled across the fossil at the Museum Solnhofen in Germany, part of a larger exhibition of fossils from the Cretaceous Period.
Read 10 remaining paragraphs | Comments
Source: Ars Technica – New study debunks controversial 2015 fossil find: It’s not a four-limbed snake after all
Programmer Restores YouTube Dislike Counts With Browser Extension
An anonymous reader quotes a report from The Next Web: YouTube’s decision to hide dislike counts on videos has sparked anger and derision. One inventive programmer has attempted to restore the feature in a browser extension. The plugin currently uses the Google API to generate the dislike count. However, this functionality will be removed from December 13. “I’ll try to scrape as much data as possible until then,” the extension’s creator said on Reddit. “After that — total dislikes will be estimated using extension users as a sample.”
The alpha version isn’t perfect. It currently only works on videos for which the Youtube API returns a valid dislike count. The calculations could also be skewed by the userbase, which is unlikely to represent the average YouTube viewer. The developer said they’re exploring ways to mitigate this, such as comparing the downvotes collected through the public of extension users to a cache of real downvotes. The results should also improve as uptake grows. The plugin could provide a useful service, but its greatest value may be as a potent symbol of protest. You can try it out here — but proceed at your own risk. If you want to check out the code, it’s been published on GitHub. Further reading: YouTube Co-Founder Predicts ‘Decline’ of the Platform Following Removal of Dislikes
Read more of this story at Slashdot.
Source: Slashdot – Programmer Restores YouTube Dislike Counts With Browser Extension
How to Build Your Own Wiki on Ubuntu with DokuWiki
We use DokuWiki and it’s awesome. Our team has an internal knowledge base, and we use DokuWiki to store all our reviews, tutorials, etc. It’s simple, easy to install, and easy to use. Most importantly, it’s not resource-heavy. In this post, we’re going to show you how to install DokuWiki on an Ubuntu 16.04 server. We’ll also show you how to build your own wiki on Ubuntu with DokuWiki.
The post How to Build Your Own Wiki on Ubuntu with DokuWiki appeared first on Linux Today.
Source: Linux Today – How to Build Your Own Wiki on Ubuntu with DokuWiki
Starbucks Links With Amazon Go For First Cashierless Cafe
Starbucks has partnered with Amazon Go, the e-commerce giant’s brick-and-mortar convenience store, to open its first ever cashierless cafe. “[C]ustomers can sit at a table with a latte or grab a sandwich from a shelf and walk out,” reports Reuters. From the report: Hit by a U.S. labor crunch, Starbucks and other companies are expanding labor-saving technology like artificial intelligence, robotics and digital touch screens. […] The pandemic pushed people to place more orders online for carry out, delivery and drive-thru. To keep up, Starbucks shifted its development strategy to new store formats, adding pickup-only locations in urban areas, as well as traditional cafes and suburban drive-thrus. Starbucks and Amazon plan to open at least two more U.S. locations together in 2022, said Kathryn Young, Starbucks’ senior vice president of global growth and development.
Starbucks baristas will make drinks and the rest of the chain’s menu at the new location in New York City, which will have the same staffing level as any other Starbucks, she said. Customers can order through the Starbucks app and grab coffee to go from a counter near the door. Or they can use a credit card, Amazon app or Amazon One palm reader to enter the rest of the space, take snacks from shelves, or sit at tables.
Read more of this story at Slashdot.
Source: Slashdot – Starbucks Links With Amazon Go For First Cashierless Cafe
How to Install Latest LAMP Stack in RHEL-based Distributions
The web and database servers, along with the well-known server-side language, are not available in their latest versions from the major distributions’ official repositories. If you like to play or work with cutting-edge software, you will need to either install them from a source or use a third-party repository.
The post How to Install Latest LAMP Stack in RHEL-based Distributions appeared first on Linux Today.
Source: Linux Today – How to Install Latest LAMP Stack in RHEL-based Distributions
Meta is still working on changes recommended during last year’s civil rights audit
More than a year after failing its first civil rights audit, Meta says it’s still working on a number of changes recommended by auditors. The company released an update detailing its progress on addressing the auditors’ many recommendations.
According to the company, it has already implemented 65 of the 117 recommendations, with another 42 listed as ”in progress or ongoing.” However, there are six areas where the company says it is still determining the “feasibility” of making changes and two recommendations where the company has “declined” to take further action. And, notably, some of these deal with the most contentious issues called out in the original 2020 audit.
That original report, released in July of 2020, found the company needed to do more to stop “pushing users toward extremist echo chambers.” It also said the company needed to address issues related to algorithmic bias, and criticized the company’s handling of Donald Trump’s posts. In its latest update, Meta says it still hasn’t committed to all the changes the auditors called for related to algorithmic bias. The company has implemented some changes, like engaging with outside experts and increasing the diversity of its AI team, but says other changes are still “under evaluation.”
Specifically, the auditors called for a mandatory, company-wide process for “to avoid, identify, and address potential sources of bias and discriminatory outcomes when developing or deploying AI and machine learning models” and that it “regularly test existing algorithms and machine-learning models.” Meta said the recommendation is “under evaluation.” Likewise, the audit also recommended “mandatory training on understanding and mitigating sources of bias and discrimination in AI for all teams building algorithms and machine-learning models.” That suggestion is also listed as “under evaluation,” according to Meta.
The company also says some updates related to content moderation are also “under evaluation.” These include a recommendation to improve the “transparency and consistency” of decisions related to moderation appeals, and a recommendation that the company study more aspects of how hate speech spreads, and how it can use that data to address targeted hate more quickly. The auditors also recommended that Meta “disclose additional data” about which users are being targeted with voter suppression on its platform. That recommendation is also “under evaluation.”
The only two recommendations that Meta outright declined were also related to elections and census policies. “The Auditors recommended that all user-generated reports of voter interference be routed to content reviewers to make a determination on whether the content violates our policies, and that an appeals option be added for reported voter interference content,” Meta wrote. But the company said it opted not to make those changes because it would slow down the review process, and because “the vast majority of content reported as voter interference does not violate the company’s policies.”
Separately, Meta also said it’s working on a “a framework for studying our platforms and identifying opportunities to increase fairness when it comes to race in the United States.” To accomplish this, the company will conduct “off-platform surveys” and analyze its own data using surnames and zip codes.
Source: Engadget – Meta is still working on changes recommended during last year’s civil rights audit
Hawkeye's Old School Costume Gets a New School Shout Out
One of the things that makes Hawkeye of the Marvel Cinematic Universe so unique is that he’s not unique. He’s just a regular person, same as you and me. He doesn’t have a super suit or come from outer space. Hawkeye is a human being who just so happens to be great with a bow and arrow. And that regular-guy persona…
Source: Gizmodo – Hawkeye’s Old School Costume Gets a New School Shout Out
I'm Enjoying Battlefield 2042, But There May Be Something Wrong With Me
Earlier this week, Ethan rightly called out Battlefield 2042 as being the “wrong game at the wrong time”. A similar piece on Eurogamer says Battlefield 2042’s opening weekend was “a disaster”. User reviews of the game are in the toilet. Imagine my confusion, then, when I realised last night that I’d been logging onto…
Source: Kotaku – I’m Enjoying Battlefield 2042, But There May Be Something Wrong With Me
At least 25 poisoned, 1 dead from “Real Alkalized Water,” CDC report reveals
Real Water sold in jugs. (credit: FDA)
At least 25 people in two states were likely poisoned by toxic batches of the “Re2al Alkalized Water,” including five children who suffered acute liver failure and one person who died.
That’s according to a report published by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Thursday, which lays out the findings of a multistate investigation into the toxic water. Health investigators suspect additional poisonings went undetected. They noted in their report that hospital records indicated an unusual spike in unexplained “toxic liver diseases” around the time of the poisonings.
The toxic water made headlines earlier this year when health investigators initially linked alkalized water sold by Nevada-based water company Real Water to severe illnesses in five children in Clark County, Nevada. But the new report from the CDC offers the most complete look at the identified cases and illnesses.
Read 11 remaining paragraphs | Comments
Source: Ars Technica – At least 25 poisoned, 1 dead from “Real Alkalized Water,” CDC report reveals
How To Download A RPM Package With All Dependencies In CentOS, Fedora, RHEL, AlmaLinux, Rocky Linux
This guide explains how to download a RPM package with all dependencies in RHEL-based systems such as CentOS, Fedora, AlmaLinux and Rocky Linux.
Source: LXer – How To Download A RPM Package With All Dependencies In CentOS, Fedora, RHEL, AlmaLinux, Rocky Linux
Instagram now lets you delete an image from a carousel
Since 2017, Instagram has allowed users to combine up to 10 photos and videos in a single post, but only now, some four years later, is the company adding a way to delete a single image or clip from a carousel. Instagram head Adam Mosseri detailed how the new feature works in one of his recent weekly video updates.
Covering ✌️ this week:
– Carousel Deletion (finally!)
– Rage ShakeDid you know about these 💎s? Any other features you’d like me to cover? Let me know 👇 pic.twitter.com/Yx0q4UGFfb
— Adam Mosseri 😷 (@mosseri) November 17, 2021
You can delete a photo or video from a carousel by first tapping the three dots icon, then the edit button. At that point, swipe over to the image or clip you want to remove and then tap the delete icon. According to Mosseri, the feature is currently only available on iOS, though it’s coming to Android soon. He was also quick to admit it was something Instagram should have added a while ago.
If you live in the US, you also have access to another new feature. This one is called “Rage Shake,” and it’s exactly what it sounds like. If you’re using Instagram and something isn’t working properly, shake your phone. Doing so will cause the app’s bug report interface to appear. You can then tell the company what happened. Mosseri says it will help Instagram prioritize the specific bugs it needs to address. Rage Shake is currently only available in the US.
Both features won’t change how you use Instagram, but they should be welcome additions all the same. Now if only the company would release a dedicated iPad app.
Source: Engadget – Instagram now lets you delete an image from a carousel