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- Possible Dinosaur DNA Has Been Found
- Wary of Public Transport, Coronavirus-Hit Americans Turn To Bikes
- The Pirate Bay Blocked By MalwareBytes But Normal Service Will Be Resumed
- DHS CISA: Companies Are Getting Hacked Even After Patching Pulse Secure VPNs
- Deep Sea Squid Communicate By Glowing Like E-Readers
- Apple Music On the Web Exits Beta
- ICANN Delays<nobr> <wbr></nobr>.Org Sale Again After California's AG Intervenes At Last Minute
- AT&T Gave FCC False Broadband-Coverage Data In Parts of 20 States
- AI Researchers Propose 'Bias Bounties' To Put Ethics Principles Into Practice
- MIT's AI Suggests That Social Distancing Works
- NASA, SpaceX Set Date For Historic Launch of Astronauts To ISS
- Tech Startups Ask Workers To Trade In Salary for Stock
- Clipboard Hijacking Malware Found in 725 Ruby Libraries
- Google is Building Physical and Virtual Debit Cards
- Resellers Using Checkout Bots Are Driving the Nintendo Switch Shortage
Possible Dinosaur DNA Has Been Found Posted: 17 Apr 2020 08:30 PM PDT An anonymous reader quotes a report from Scientific American: The tiny fossil is unassuming, as dinosaur remains go. It is not as big as an Apatosaurus femur or as impressive as a Tyrannosaurus jaw. The object is a just a scant shard of cartilage from the skull of a baby hadrosaur called Hypacrosaurus that perished more than 70 million years ago. But it may contain something never before seen from the depths of the Mesozoic era: degraded remnants of dinosaur DNA. [...] In a study published earlier this year, Chinese Academy of Sciences paleontologist Alida Bailleul and her colleagues proposed that in that fossil, they had found not only evidence of original proteins and cartilage-creating cells but a chemical signature consistent with DNA. Recovering genetic material of such antiquity would be a major development. Working on more recently extinct creatures -- such as mammoths and giant ground sloths -- paleontologists have been able to revise family trees, explore the interrelatedness of species and even gain some insights into biological features such as variations in coloration. DNA from nonavian dinosaurs would add a wealth of new information about the biology of the "terrible lizards." Such a find would also establish the possibility that genetic material can remain detectable not just for one million years, but for tens of millions. The fossil record would not be bones and footprints alone: it would contain scraps of the genetic record that ties together all life on Earth. Yet first, paleontologists need to confirm that these possible genetic traces are the real thing. Such potential tatters of ancient DNA are not exactly Jurassic Park -- quality. At best, their biological makers seem to be degraded remnants of genes that cannot be read -- broken-down components rather than intact parts of a sequence. Still, these potential tatters of ancient DNA would be far older (by millions of years) than the next closest trace of degraded genetic material in the fossil record. "If upheld, Bailleul and her colleagues' findings would indicate that biochemical traces of organisms can persist for tens of millions of years longer than previously thought," the report adds. "And that would mean there may be an entire world of biological information experts are only just getting to know." Read more of this story at Slashdot. |
Wary of Public Transport, Coronavirus-Hit Americans Turn To Bikes Posted: 17 Apr 2020 07:03 PM PDT Timothy Aeppel writing for Reuters: The coronavirus pandemic has sparked a surge in bike sales across the United States, according to a major manufacturer and a half dozen retailers interviewed by Reuters. Many of the purchases are by people looking for a way to get outside at a time of sweeping shutdowns and stay-at-home orders aimed at containing the virus: Even the worst affected states are allowing people out to exercise. [...] To be sure, bikes remain well down the list of U.S. commuting preferences. About 870,000 Americans, on average, commuted to work by bicycle in the five years through 2017, or about 0.6% of all workers, according to the U.S. Census Bureau. The rate was higher in urban areas, at about 1.1%, and about 20 cities with at least 60,000 residents had rates of about 5% or more. A more recent survey, though, showed a higher percentage of U.S. workers using a bike to get to work. Private research firm Statista Inc.'s 2019 survey showed 5% rode their own bike, while another 1% used a bike share service, an increasingly common option in larger cities. The article notes that many bike shops remain open during the pandemic because many local governments have declared bicycles an essential transportation item. Kent International, a bike importer and manufacturer, said sales of its low-priced bikes had surged over the past month. "Kent is already out of stock on five of its top 20 models and expects that to rise to 10 by the end of the month," writes Aeppel, citing chief executive and chairman Arnold Kamler. "Kamler said sales at most of the major retailers he supplies were up 30% last month and are up over 50% so far in April, with the surge in demand forcing him to change shipping arrangements." Read more of this story at Slashdot. |
The Pirate Bay Blocked By MalwareBytes But Normal Service Will Be Resumed Posted: 17 Apr 2020 06:25 PM PDT The Pirate Bay returned to the clear web this week after a month-long hiatus. However, the structure of the infamous torrent index presented an access problem to users of the popular anti-malware software MalwareBytes, which persistently blocked an essential element of the platform due to the presence of "a few" cryptocurrency miners on a secondary domain. TorrentFreak reports: The problem lay in The Pirate Bay's setup. Aside from cosmetic changes to some pages, the site sends requests to another domain (apibay.org) in order to present torrents to the user on thepiratebay.org. However, those accessing the main domain with Malwarebytes installed were greeted with blank torrent pages after the security software blocked apibay.org. Any warning of this type, especially concerning trojans, should be of concern to users of any site. However, dumping trojans on users hasn't been the modus operandi of The Pirate Bay thus far, so TorrentFreak contacted Malwarebytes to find out what was causing the alert. Manager of WebProtection Labs at MalwareBytes Andres Ortiz informs TorrentFreak that the issue was caused by the presence of "a few" cryptocurrency miners, not on thepiratebay.org, but on a sub-directory of apibay.org, the domain from where TPB appears to present its torrent results. The analysis for just one example miner is shown [here]. After examining the apibay.org domain once again, MalwareBytes has now confirmed that the miners have been removed so in response, they will push an update to their users to stop TPB's indexes from being blocked moving forward. However, if any party reintroduces the miners, it's certainly possible that the site will be rendered inaccessible once again. Read more of this story at Slashdot. |
DHS CISA: Companies Are Getting Hacked Even After Patching Pulse Secure VPNs Posted: 17 Apr 2020 05:45 PM PDT According to the DHS's Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA), companies that run Pulse Secure VPN servers are still at risk of getting hacked, despite patching vulnerable systems. ZDNet reports: Pulse Secure VPN servers are enterprise-grade VPN gateways that companies use to let workers connect to internal company networks from across the internet. Last year, a major vulnerability was disclosed in these products. The vulnerability, tracked as CVE-2019-11510, allowed hackers to run malicious code on vulnerable servers. [...] According to the [DHS CISA and Japan's Computer Emergency Response Team (JPCERT)], hackers have also been using access to the Pulse Secure VPN server to extract plaintext Active Directory (AD) credentials. Now, JPCERT and CISA say they're seeing attacks where hackers are leveraging these stolen credentials to access internal networks even after companies patched Pulse Secure VPN gateways. In an alert published yesterday, CISA said it was aware of "incidents where compromised Active Directory credentials were used months after the victim organization patched their VPN appliance." The U.S. agency has released a tool on GitHub for companies that run Pulse Secure VPNs. The tool can be used to sift through their Pulse Secure logs and spot signs of a potential compromise. The tool scans for IP addresses and user-agents known to be associated with groups that have exploited Pulse Secure VPN servers. Read more of this story at Slashdot. |
Deep Sea Squid Communicate By Glowing Like E-Readers Posted: 17 Apr 2020 05:02 PM PDT An anonymous reader quotes a report from NPR: Deep in the Pacific Ocean, six-foot-long Humboldt squid are known for being aggressive, cannibalistic and, according to new research, good communicators. Known as "red devils," the squid can rapidly change the color of their skin, making different patterns to communicate, something other squid species are known to do. But Humboldt squid live in almost total darkness more than 1,000 feet below the surface, so their patterns aren't very visible. Instead, according to a new study, they create backlighting for the patterns by making their bodies glow, like the screen of an e-reader. Ben Burford, a graduate student at Stanford University, and his colleagues studied deep-water footage taken by the Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute's remotely operated vehicles off the California coast. They found the squid make around 30 different patterns of lines, stripes and patches. The patterns appear dark, but researchers believe they're illuminated by the squid's bioluminescent skin. Some of the patterns are only used around other squid, suggesting they're used for communication. The squid also appear to reorder the patterns, almost like words in a sentence. Read more of this story at Slashdot. |
Apple Music On the Web Exits Beta Posted: 17 Apr 2020 04:20 PM PDT The web-based Apple Music experience that launched in beta last September is now available at music.apple.com. MacRumors reports: The previous beta.music.apple.com address automatically forwards to the newly launched version. Once you're signed into the web version of Apple Music with your Apple ID that has an associated Apple Music subscription, you'll have access to all of your library and playlist content, as well as the same personal mixes and recommendations you'll see in the Music apps for iOS, Mac, and Android. Apple Music content plays right in the web browser, providing access for an array of devices and platforms that don't have native Music app support, include Windows 10, Linux, and Chrome OS. Read more of this story at Slashdot. |
ICANN Delays<nobr> <wbr></nobr>.Org Sale Again After California's AG Intervenes At Last Minute Posted: 17 Apr 2020 03:40 PM PDT ICANN has again delayed a decision on the sale of the .org registry, pushing the issue off for another month. The Register reports: The organization's board of directors was due to decide today on whether to approve the $1.13 billion sale of the .org domain from the Internet Society to private equity firm Ethos Capital, but a last-minute letter from California's attorney general Xavier Becerra appears to have upended the plan. Rather than take a vote, the ICANN board debated the issue and ultimately decided to put off a decision until May 4 -- the fourth such delay. The organization formally acknowledged the decision late on Thursday evening local time. "We have agreed to extend the review period to May 4, 2020, to permit additional time to complete our review," it said. The attorney general's letter [PDF] arrived just hours before the meeting and told the non-profit organization in stark terms that it should not approve the sale as it "raises serious concerns that cannot be overlooked." "Empowering a for-profit entity that could undermine the accessibility and affordability of the .org domain, which serves nonprofits, should concern all of us," the California AG's office told The Reg. "We're urging ICANN to deny the request to transfer control of the .org domain to a for-profit private equity firm. In California, we're committed to an Internet that serves everyone and we're simply concerned that this transfer puts profits above the public interest." "If, as proposed, Ethos Capital is permitted to purchase PIR, it will no longer have the unique characteristics that ICANN valued at the time that it selected PIR as the nonprofit to be responsible for the .ORG registry," Becerra's letter notes. "In effect, what is at stake is the transfer of the world's second largest registry to a for-profit private equity firm that, by design, exists to profit from millions of nonprofit and non-commercial organizations." "Little is known about Ethos Capital and its multiple proposed subsidiaries," the letter states. "Even less is known about how these for-profit corporate entities and private investors will operate their businesses... Given the lack of transparency regarding Ethos' future plans, approval of the transfer may place at risk the operational stability of the .ORG registry." Read more of this story at Slashdot. |
AT&T Gave FCC False Broadband-Coverage Data In Parts of 20 States Posted: 17 Apr 2020 03:02 PM PDT An anonymous reader quotes a report from Ars Technica: AT&T falsely reported to the Federal Communications Commission that it offers broadband in nearly 3,600 census blocks spread across parts of 20 states. AT&T disclosed the error to the FCC in a filing a week ago. The filing provides "a list of census blocks AT&T previously reported as having broadband deployment at speeds of at least 25Mbps downstream/3 Mbps upstream that AT&T has removed from its Form 477 reports." The 78-page list includes nearly 3,600 blocks. With Form 477 reports, ISPs are required to tell the FCC which census blocks they offer service in. The FCC uses the data to track broadband-deployment progress and, crucially, to decide which census blocks get government funding for deploying Internet service. AT&T falsely reporting broadband-data coverage could prevent other ISPs from getting that funding and leave Americans without broadband access. When contacted by Ars, AT&T said the mistake was caused by a software problem. "The updates to the census blocks address an issue with a third party's geocoding software. There has been no change to our service area and this doesn't affect the service we provide our customers," AT&T told Ars. Read more of this story at Slashdot. |
AI Researchers Propose 'Bias Bounties' To Put Ethics Principles Into Practice Posted: 17 Apr 2020 02:25 PM PDT Researchers from Google Brain, Intel, OpenAI, and top research labs in the U.S. and Europe joined forces this week to release what the group calls a toolbox for turning AI ethics principles into practice. From a report: The kit for organizations creating AI models includes the idea of paying developers for finding bias in AI, akin to the bug bounties offered in security software. This recommendation and other ideas for ensuring AI is made with public trust and societal well-being in mind were detailed in a preprint paper published this week. The bug bounty hunting community might be too small to create strong assurances, but developers could still unearth more bias than is revealed by measures in place today, the authors say. "Bias and safety bounties would extend the bug bounty concept to AI and could complement existing efforts to better document data sets and models for their performance limitations and other properties," the paper reads. "We focus here on bounties for discovering bias and safety issues in AI systems as a starting point for analysis and experimentation but note that bounties for other properties (such as security, privacy protection, or interpretability) could also be explored." Read more of this story at Slashdot. |
MIT's AI Suggests That Social Distancing Works Posted: 17 Apr 2020 01:46 PM PDT In a preprint academic paper published in early April, MIT researchers describe a model that quantifies the impact of quarantine measures on the spread of COVID-19, the novel coronavirus. From a report: Unlike most of the models that have so far been proposed, this one doesn't rely on data from studies about previous outbreaks, like SARS or MERS. Instead, it taps an AI algorithm trained to capture the number of infected individuals under quarantine using the SEIR model, which groups people into classes like "susceptible," "exposed," "infected," and "recovered." This approach potentially achieves accuracy higher than or comparable to previous work, which could help to better inform governments, health systems, and nonprofits as they make treatment and policy decisions about social distancing. For instance, the model found that in places like South Korea, where there was immediate government intervention, the virus spread plateaued more quickly. "Our model shows that quarantine restrictions are successful in getting the effective reproduction number from larger than one to smaller than one. The [model] is learning what we are calling the 'quarantine control strength function,'" said George Barbastathis, MIT professor of mechanical engineering, who developed the model over the course of several weeks with civil and environmental engineering Ph.D. candidate Raj Dandekar as a part of a final class project. "That corresponds to the point where we can flatten the curve and start seeing fewer infections." Read more of this story at Slashdot. |
NASA, SpaceX Set Date For Historic Launch of Astronauts To ISS Posted: 17 Apr 2020 01:05 PM PDT The last space shuttle launched in 2011 and NASA hasn't sent astronauts to space from US soil since then. That long dry patch is set to end on May 27 when the SpaceX Crew Dragon is scheduled to head to the International Space Station with two crew members on board. NASA administrator Jim Bridenstine posted the news on social media Friday along with a short video hyping the event. Read more of this story at Slashdot. |
Tech Startups Ask Workers To Trade In Salary for Stock Posted: 17 Apr 2020 12:25 PM PDT Business is booming for Medal.tv as house-bound users flock to the gaming startup, making it one of the rare coronavirus success stories. Half its employees are still taking salary cuts in the wake of the outbreak. From a report: In return, the 33-person company is offering those employees restricted stock units which will vest over one year. The company intends for employees to be able to sell those shares when Medal eventually closes its next round of financing. Timing on that: to be determined. "If everything goes well, not only does the company save money and slow down its cash burn, but the employees that exchange their salary for stock will have a bigger payout during our Series B round," said co-founder Pim de Witte. Medal is among a growing number of startups offering stock-for-salary trades to preserve cash as the tech industry reels and economic uncertainty mounts. Medal, which lets players clip and share snippets of games on social media, has doubled its user growth rate since shelter in place orders started. The company said while high earners were "strongly encouraged" to take the deal, the pay cut and stock option swap was voluntary. It's a move that only works for "employees who believe in the financial outlook of your company," De Witte said. Read more of this story at Slashdot. |
Clipboard Hijacking Malware Found in 725 Ruby Libraries Posted: 17 Apr 2020 11:45 AM PDT Security researchers from ReversingLabs say they've discovered 725 Ruby libraries uploaded on the official RubyGems repository that contained malware meant to hijack users' clipboards. From a report: The malicious packages were uploaded on RubyGems between February 16 and 25 by two accounts -- JimCarrey and PeterGibbons. The 725 libraries, which are listed here in full, have been removed two days later, on February 27, after the ReversingLabs team notified the RubyGems security team. All the Ruby libraries were copies of legitimate libraries, used lookalike names, worked as intended, but also contained additional malicious files. The extra file inserted into each package was named aaa.png. However, ReversingLabs say this file wasn't a PNG image, but instead was a Windows PE executable. Read more of this story at Slashdot. |
Google is Building Physical and Virtual Debit Cards Posted: 17 Apr 2020 11:00 AM PDT Would you pay with a "Google Card?" TechCrunch has attained imagery that shows Google is developing its own physical and virtual debit cards. From the report The Google card and associated checking account will allow users to buy things with a card, mobile phone or online. It connects to a Google app with new features that let users easily monitor purchases, check their balance or lock their account. The card will be co-branded with different bank partners, including CITI and Stanford Federal Credit Union. A source provided TechCrunch with the images seen here, as well as proof that they came from Google. Another source confirmed that Google has recently worked on a payments card that its team hopes will become the foundation of its Google Pay app -- and help it rival Apple Pay and the Apple Card. Currently, Google Pay only allows online and peer-to-peer payments by connecting a traditionally issued payment card. A Google Pay Card would vastly expand the app's use cases, and Google's potential as a fintech giant. Read more of this story at Slashdot. |
Resellers Using Checkout Bots Are Driving the Nintendo Switch Shortage Posted: 17 Apr 2020 10:22 AM PDT During the global coronavirus pandemic, demand for the Nintendo Switch console has skyrocketed and retailers have repeatedly run out of stock. Seizing that opportunity, some price gougers on Amazon and eBay are selling Switches for hundreds of dollars over the recommended retail price. From a report: Like lots of money-making opportunities in online-shopping, many of these resellers aren't just stumbling upon their in-demand product of choice. Instead, developers are creating dedicated tools to automatically buy Switches from stores when they come back in stock, and before others get a chance to. Motherboard has traced some of the bulk Switch buying to a community revolving around a new, particular bot. Hundreds of people looking to jump on the gold rush or who are just desperate to get their hands on a Switch for themselves have joined a Discord group where users share tips on how to effectively use the tool. "I decided to make it as a joke, but I quickly realized just how powerful it could be," Nate, the creator of Bird Bot, the open source tool for quickly purchasing Switches, told Motherboard in an online chat. Right now it is open season for profit-seekers. Some resellers on eBay are asking for over $500 for a Switch, with some vendors successfully getting around $750 for the Animal Crossing themed bundle of the branded console and the game within the last week. The typical retail price for those products are $300 and $360 respectively. Read more of this story at Slashdot. |
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