Volunteering is good. It’s good for the communities and individuals who benefit from it directly, it’s good for the people who do the work, and it’s good for society in general. It can also be good for your career.
Source: LifeHacker – Use These Types of Volunteer Jobs to Selfishly Advance Your Career
A newly disclosed vulnerability in a widely installed Linux program can be easily exploited for local privilege escalation, researchers from cyber firm Qualys said today.
Source: LXer – Linux vulnerability can be ‘easily exploited’ for local privilege escalation, researchers say
You may have heard people describe themselves as an “empath” to indicate they’re sensitive, intuitive people deeply aware of the emotions and energy of those around them. These self-proclaimed highly feeling souls are emotional sponges, immediately sensing peoples’ moods, making them natural helpers and healers. But,…
Source: LifeHacker – How to Spot a ‘Dark Empath’
Intel has emerged triumphant (for now) in a long-running antitrust case that once saw the chipmaker slapped with a record-breaking fine by the European Commission. The General Court, Europe’s second highest court, has overturned the €1.06 billion fine levied against the company way back in 2009. Back then, the Commission determined that Intel abused its dominant position in the market and harmed its rivals by offering manufacturers such as HP, Dell and Lenovo incentives for using its microprocessors instead of those from rival AMD’s.
The company, of course, appealed the decision, but the General Court upheld the fine in 2014. Intel had a game plan to shut out AMD from the market and “attempted to conceal the anti-competitive nature of (those) practices,” the court said. In 2017, however, the highest court in the European Union ordered the fine to be re-examined. It sent the case back down to the General Court on the grounds that the Commission didn’t consider conducting an economic assessment on how Intel’s activity impacted its rival’s ability to compete against it.
Now, the General Court has issued its decision, in which it confirmed that the Commission carried out an incomplete analysis of the company’s rebate scheme all those years ago. As such, it’s not possible to establish whether the rebates Intel offered the manufacturers were “capable of having, or were likely to have, anticompetitive effects.” The General Court has also decided that it’s not in a position to identify how much fine Intel has to pay, so it has scrapped both the decision and the fine levied against the chipmaker.
It’s a major victory for the company that’s currently trying to catch up to AMD while also dealing with the global supply chain shortage. According to The Wall Street Journal, though, the decision could still be appealed, and it would return to the Court of Justice if that happens.
Source: Engadget – Europe’s second highest court scraps Intel’s €1.06 billion antitrust fine
Last week, Intel and the U.S. government announced a joint effort to build what may turn out to be the largest factory for semiconductors in the world. Referred to as FABs (Fabrication Plant), these specialized factories produce the microprocessors that are the backbone of our technology, automobile, weapons systems, aircraft, and most anything that has technology in its markets.
Some of the current problems with supply chain logistics and out-of-control prices are a result of a massive shortage of semiconductors. TSMC, the largest semiconductor manufacturer, is in Taiwan which is particularly problematic given shipping delays and China’s increased posturing toward taking control of Taiwan, much like it did Hong Kong. Given TSMC’s dominance in the manufacture of semiconductors, China taking over Taiwan could be disastrous to a variety of U.S. industries.
Therefore, the formation of the foundation for the Chips for America Act to help fund the construction of a U.S.-based FAB is critically important. There is a critical second Act called the FABS Act which is, like the Chips for America Act, supported by members of both political parties and provides additional tax credits to support restoring U.S. semiconductor manufacturing, protecting the US from the kinds of supply problems we’re suffering through now.
Let us talk about how this super FAB could change the world dynamically for semiconductor shortages but may come too late to prevent war.
Before the pandemic, there was little indication we were going to have a shortage, but when the pandemic hit, manufacturers anticipated a large drop in demand and reduced their production capacity. The firms making those semiconductors shifted their manufacturing capacity from areas that were seeing reduced demand to areas that were likely to continue to see demand, eliminating much of the existing capacity for these semiconductors.
As it turned out, the dire predictions were way off. Not only did demand not drop as sharply, but it also came roaring back, creating product shortages which in turn fueled inflation and demand across the board. But even in those areas that did not have component shortages, there was now a problem getting finished goods to people due to shipping backlogs.
Employees in all segments of manufacturing and related logistics (including warehousing) got slammed, got sick, or got so overwhelmed they quit, making everything a lot worse. Also exacerbating the problem is an aggressive program by China to take control of the largest percentage of rare earth metals critical to technology manufacturing.
So, while domestic production is a major part of the problem that Intel and the U.S. government hope to address, the materials used to build out the rest of the ecosystem are largely controlled by others, which means we may not be out of the woods even when this massive factory is built. The U.S. needs to secure the entire supply chain for technology products. Otherwise, the bottleneck is likely to simply move to some other area, and the shortages will remain.
This Mega FAB will need to be in operation before China attacks or blockades Taiwan because losing Taiwan’s and Asia’s manufacturing capabilities would be disastrous for the U.S. Technology industry across the board.
Why? Because FABs and their related lines take years to build and spin up. Currently, without delays (which often plague FAB projects) this Mega FAB is slated to start production in 2025 or around 3 years from now. On the other hand, China appears to be very close to having the capability to attack Taiwan decisively and has been threatening such an attack for some time. Coordinating their attack on Taiwan with Russia’s attack on Ukraine seems likely since the two powers are cooperating, and that would spread U.S. efforts to stop either attack very thinly. China could then use the acquired Taiwanese semiconductor manufacturing capacity to more than offset the semiconductor sanctions that the U.S. is currently threatening. It looks like China is preparing to back Russia up and vice versa. China has 15% of the world’s FAB capacity, Taiwan 21%, and the US only around 13% and during a war shipment from Asia to the US would most certainly be at risk (that is a total of 72% of the world’s FAB capacity).
Losing that capacity would also cripple the U.S.’s ability to manufacture advanced weapons systems during a war and might, therefore, be forced to withdraw prematurely, potentially reversing the dynamic that assured the win in the Second World War.
While it is clear the U.S. Government and Intel are taking this risk very seriously, time is not on their side. Along with the much-needed manufacturing capacity of this new Mega Fab, we must assure control of the materials needed to produce the components necessary for a war effort. I expect the window is closer to twelve than 36 months, and that time and capacity for electronic manufacturing, particularly for weapons systems, may define the next conflict. Both China and Russia appear to be in far better shape in that regard (they have massive proximity advantages particularly over the US, and political execution advantages over NATO). This huge disparity could fuel the decision to begin the conflict. So, the need for the U.S. to solve both the manufacturing and supply problems are far more critical than most realize, and right now, it looks like the timeline is in weeks not years to solve this problem.
Source: TG Daily – Intel’s Mega FAB. It May Not Be Soon Enough If China And Russia Go To War
The Electronic Frontiers Foundation is attempting to have some DMCA provisions declared unconstitutional by the courts on First Amendment grounds.
The post EFF Asks Appeals Court to Find DMCA Provisions Unconstitutional appeared first on FOSS Force.
Source: FOSS Force – EFF Asks Appeals Court to Find DMCA Provisions Unconstitutional
The Electronic Frontiers Foundation is attempting to have some DMCA provisions declared unconstitutional by the courts on First Amendment grounds.
The post EFF Asks Appeals Court to Find DCMA Provisions Unconstitutional appeared first on FOSS Force.
Source: FOSS Force – EFF Asks Appeals Court to Find DCMA Provisions Unconstitutional
The concept of NFS (Network File System) empowers a user on a client computer to have read and write privileges on shared file directories on a server computer.
This over-the-network file-sharing concept is implementable by anyone due to its open-source attribute. Before this article guide teaches us how to implement the NFS protocol, we first need to understand some of the NFS footprints.
The post How to Install and Configure NFS on Ubuntu 22.04/20.04 appeared first on Linux Today.
Source: Linux Today – How to Install and Configure NFS on Ubuntu 22.04/20.04
For years, Samsung laptops reminded me of a kid who was forced by their parents to play sports. They keep showing up, but the obvious lack of effort made you wonder if they even want to be there. Recently, though, Samsung has started to kick the ball in the right direction. Products like the Galaxy Book Pro 360 and …
Source: Gizmodo – The Galaxy Book Feels Like a Big Step Backward for Samsung
ryanw shares a report from BleepingComputer: A new DeadBolt ransomware group is encrypting QNAP NAS devices worldwide using what they claim is a zero-day vulnerability in the device’s software. The attacks started today, January 25th, with QNAP devices suddenly finding their files encrypted and file names appended with a .deadbolt file extension. Instead of creating ransom notes in each folder on the device, the QNAP device’s login page is hijacked to display a screen stating, “WARNING: Your files have been locked by DeadBolt.” This screen informs the victim that they should pay 0.03 bitcoins (approximately $1,100) to an enclosed Bitcoin address unique to each victim.
After payment is made, the threat actors claim they will make a follow-up transaction to the same address that includes the decryption key. This decryption key can then be entered into the screen to decrypt the device’s files. At this time, there is no confirmation that paying a ransom will result in receiving a decryption key or that users will be able to decrypt files. The DeadBolt ransomware gang is offering the full details of the alleged zero-day vulnerability if QNAP pays them 5 Bitcoins worth $184,000. They are also willing to sell QNAP the master decryption key that can decrypt the files for all affected victims and the zero-day info for 50 bitcoins, or approximately $1.85 million.
Read more of this story at Slashdot.
Source: Slashdot – New DeadBolt Ransomware Targets QNAP Devices, Asks 50 BTC For Master Key
At the top-end of Intel’s current Alder Lake line-up is the Core i9 12900K while at the opposite end is the Celeron G6900… The Celeron G6900 is a dual-core Alder Lake processor with a suggested customer price of $42~52 USD (though for the limited quantities available, I ended up paying $69). Curiosity got the best of me for seeing how well this lowest-end Alder Lake part performs under Ubuntu Linux.
Source: Phoronix – Intel Celeron G6900 Benchmarks – Performance Of Intel’s ~60 Alder Lake Processor
Musician Neil Young has asked his management team and record label to remove his songs from Spotify. “I am doing this because Spotify is spreading fake information about vaccines — potentially causing death to those who believe [it],” he said. “They can have [Joe] Rogan or Young. Not both.” The content of the letter was confirmed by Young’s manager, Frank Gironda, according to The Daily Beast. It’s probably not an empty threat; Young previously removed his music from Spotify due to low audio quality.
The Joe Rogan Experience picks up around 11 million listeners on average, and as you probably already know, some of his guests (and comments) have been controversial. Rogan hosted virologist Dr. Robert Malone, who made baseless claims about COVID-19, saying a “mass formation psychosis” led people to believe the vaccines were effective. This prompted a group of over 1,000 doctors, nurses, scientists and educators to send an open letter to Spotify demanding that it create a misinformation policy.
In an episode that followed, Rogan contended that a rare heart condition had been linked to vaccines when it was actually linked to those that had contracted COVID-19. (You can watch the awkwardness here.) Spotify CEO Daniel Ek previously said he doesn’t believe the platform has editorial responsibility for podcasts. The company hasn’t yet responded to Young’s letter.
— Mat Smith
Watch a drag race between Tesla’s Model S Plaid and the Lucid Air
What we bought: How the Kobo Libra 2 got me out of a reading slump
Engadget Deals: The 2021 Apple TV 4K is on sale for $160 right now
EA’s Respawn Entertainment is making three more Star Wars games. The studio — best known for Titanfall and Apex Legends — is working on a follow-up to Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order, though it’s not clear if the upcoming game is a direct sequel. There will also be a first-person shooter overseen by a former Star Wars Battlefront producer as well as a strategy game from a studio headed up by Greg Foertsch, who previously worked on the XCOM series. Some Star Wars for everyone.
Samsung has announced the “industry’s first” all-in-one fingerprint security chip (IC) for payment cards. It can read biometric information via a fingerprint sensor, store and authenticate data with a tamper-proof secure element (SE) and analyze it with a secure processor. While primarily designed for payment cards, it could also be used for “student or employee identification, membership or building access,” the company said.
We might have enough payment options, thanks to our phones, but that’s not stopping Samsung. Last year, it announced it was collaborating with Mastercard on a biometric scanning payment card with a built-in fingerprint reader.
Sony has unveiled the HT-S400 soundbar. It has a few tricks while keeping the price down to $300. While it’s a 2.1-channel system, it offers virtual surround sound (S-Force Pro Front Surround, if you wanted to know) to provide more immersive audio for your movies and shows. It’s also a fairly powerful system for the class, with a rather large 130W wireless subwoofer contributing to a total of 330W output. The soundbar is set to launch in April 2022.
According to a Bloomberg report, NVIDIA is struggling to gain regulatory approval for its $40 billion purchase of ARM and is privately preparing to abandon the deal. Meanwhile, current ARM owner SoftBank is reportedly planning to take ARM public as an alternative to the acquisition. A backlash began soon after the announcement.
The UK, where ARM is based, launched an antitrust investigation into the acquisition in January 2021 while, in the US, the FTC recently sued to block the purchase over concerns it would “stifle” competition in industries like data centers and car manufacturing.
With the demise of third-party cookies on the horizon, everyone is scrambling to come up with better ways to get ads in front of our eyes. Google announced FLoC (or Federated Learning of Cohorts) last year. That was then delayed, and the company’s Privacy Sandbox faced regulatory scrutiny. Today, the company announced it’s testing out a new approach called Topics API, leaving FLoC by the wayside.
Simplified, Topics API uses the Chrome browser to determine your top five topics. It’ll figure out what the topics are by comparing known websites (that you visit) against a list of about 350 topics drawn from the Interactive Advertising Bureau and Google’s own data. Then, when partner publishers need to know what topics you’re into, they can use Topics API to ping the browser for that data and serve you relevant ads.
The video game industry has more or less settled on a standard design for controllers with a pair of matching analog joysticks, a directional pad, four action buttons, and shoulder triggers on top. It’s a design that the PlayStation DualShock controller popularized, but one that I genuinely feel Nintendo perfectly…
Source: Gizmodo – I Miss the GameCube WaveBird, the Best Controller Nintendo Ever Made
You can now get Google Assistant to stop talking with just one word: “Stop.” That’s it — you don’t even have to say “Hey, Google” before that. The official Google Twitter account has announced the small but necessary quality-of-life improvement for the company’s speakers and smart displays. It sometimes takes a while (and several repeated attempts) to get Assistant’s attention with a “Hey, Google” if it suddenly goes off without you wanting it to or if you absolutely have to cut it off mid-spiel. This new feature solves that problem.
📣 Helpful new Google Assistant feature alert! Want your smart display or speaker to stop talking? Just say “stop” — no #HeyGoogle needed.
— Google (@Google) January 25, 2022
Google has been testing the capability to issue voice commands without wake words on Android since at least last year. The feature, codenamed “Guacamole,” includes the ability to cancel alarms simply by saying “Stop.” A year before the discovery of that experimental feature, another one codenamed “Blue Steel” was leaked to the public. Blue Steel gives you a way to activate Assistant by proximity alone, with the voice AI’s interface automatically popping up when you move close to a smart display without having to say anything. Google didn’t say whether this new capability is a result of either experiment, though we’re sure all that matters if that you need to stop Assistant from talking is that the feature exists.
Source: Engadget – Google Assistant will now cease talking if you simply say ‘stop’
Phosh, a pure Wayland shell for GNOME on mobile devices, has been updated today to version 0.15.0, a major release that brings new features, improvements, and many bug fixes.
Source: LXer – Phosh 0.15.0 Wayland Shell for GNOME on Mobile Devices Adds Full VPN Support, Swipeable Notification Frames
Twitter has received the highest number of content removal demands from governments around the world from January to June 2021, the website has revealed in its latest transparency report. To be precise, it received 43,387 legal demands that involve 196,878 accounts. Twitter says those numbers represent the largest increase in content removal requests and accounts reported within a six-month reporting period from the time it started publishing transparency reports in 2012.
One factor that contributed to the spike in accounts reported is the legal demands submitted by Indonesia’s Ministry of Communication and Information Technology. The agency flagged 102,363 accounts for posting sexual services and illegal adult content, and Twitter took action on 18,570 of them. Twitter also saw an increase in accounts withheld from the public due to content that allegedly violated Russia’s laws against inciting suicide.
Last year, Russian News Agency Tass reported that the country’s internet authorities threatened to block Twitter if it doesn’t remove “suicide incitement aimed at minors, child pornography, as well as information about the use of drugs” on its website. The authorities also slowed down Twitter’s loading speeds for desktop and mobile.
A total of 95 percent of the total global volume of legal demands came from five countries in particular, with Japan remaining as the top requester. Japan is responsible for 43 percent of the legal demands Twitter received, with most of them being about narcotics and drug-related posts, obscenity and financial-related crimes. The other four countries are Russia, Turkey, India and South Korea, in that order.
Based on Twitter’s report, there’s an upward trend in the number of legal demands Twitter gets, with a huge spike happening in the first half of 2020. It remains to be seen whether those numbers will keep on rising, but Twitter’s VP of global public policy Sinead McSweeney expressed her concerns in a statement: “We’re facing unprecedented challenges as governments around the world increasingly attempt to intervene and remove content. This threat to privacy and freedom of expression is a deeply worrying trend that requires our full attention.”
Source: Engadget – Twitter reports record number of takedown requests from governments
If you’d like to use Arch Linux but don’t want to build everything from the ground up, we list five of the best Arch-based Linux distros.
Source: LXer – 5 Arch Linux Distros That Are Easier to Install and Use
AMDVLK as AMD’s official open-source Vulkan Linux driver derived from their Radeon Software driver sources but using the LLVM shader compiler back-end is out with a new release. AMD is ready with day-after support for the newly-launched Vulkan 1.3 specification for AMDVLK…
Source: Phoronix – AMDVLK 2022.Q1.2 Released With Vulkan 1.3 Support
Diem, Meta’s ill-fated cryptocurrency previously known as Libra, may never actually materialize. According to Bloomberg, the Diem Association is reportedly “weighing a sale of its assets as a way to return capital to its investor members.” Engadget reports: It’s unclear what assets the Diem Association owns, but the report notes the group is talking to bankers about selling its intellectual property and finding “a new home for the engineers that developed the technology.” If a sale were to happen, it would seem to be the final nail in the coffin for Diem, the cryptocurrency project that Mark Zuckerberg has championed. Plans to get the stablecoin off the ground have stalled for years amid regulatory pushback and lawmaker concerns. After first launching as Libra, several high-profile partners pulled out in 2019.
Last fall, Facebook started a small pilot of Novi, the cryptocurrency wallet formerly known as Calibra. But the fact that Novi was forced to launch without support for Diem — it used a different stablecoin called the Pax Dollar — was a sign that Diem’s future remained uncertain. Longtime Facebook exec David Marcus, who oversaw the social network’s crypto plans, said at the time that Facebook remained committed to Diem. “I do want to be clear that our support for Diem hasn’t changed and we intend to launch Novi with Diem once it receives regulatory approval and goes live,” he wrote. Marcus announced a month later that he was leaving Facebook.
Read more of this story at Slashdot.
Source: Slashdot – Meta’s Ill-Fated Cryptocurrency May Be Close To Dissolving
As part of pushing it across the Vulkan 1.3 milestone, Intel’s open-source graphics driver developers have merged their VK_KHR_dynamic_rendering support to mainline…
Source: Phoronix – Intel’s Vulkan Linux Driver Lands Dynamic Rendering Support