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upstart writes in with an IRC submission for Runaway1956:Linux 5.10 Didn't Even Last 24 Hours... Linux 5.10.1 Released Due To Bugs - Phoronix:

martyb writes:Though the popular vote for the next President of the United States of America was held in early November, today is the day the next President is actually selected.The popular vote of the people is actually to select electors whose votes are what actually select the next President.From the live update page Electoral College votes to affirm Biden's win:

SomeGuy writes:The international news agency AFP reports on a violent rampage at a Taiwanese-run iPhone factory in southern India" leading to over 100 arrests. About 2,000 workers were involved in the protest, reports the Verge, citing the Indian Express newspaper.The workers are protesting over allegations of unpaid wages and exploitation, according to AFP. "Local media reported workers saying they had not been paid for up to four months and were being forced to do extra shifts..."

upstart writes in with an IRC submission for c0lo:Hubble spots exoplanet with a wild orbit:

upstart writes in with an IRC submission:Atom-thin transistor uses half the voltage of common semiconductors, boosts current density:

An Anonymous Coward writes:Google services crashed today taking YouTube and other Google services offline with a cascading effect across the internet. Services hit include Discord and other third party online systems which depend on Google services to operate. This event has proven that having single entities such as Google and AWS as the backbone of the internet makes for a linchpin that can be pulled at any time.I for one did not miss our Search Overlord.[Ed. addition follows]See also: CNET.Things are slowly returning, but if you've been smashing your head against the wall in frustration, it helps to know it might not be entirely on your end.From the CNET article:

upstart writes in with an IRC submission:Robot lawyer startup DoNotPay now lets you file FOIA requests – TechCrunch:

upstart writes in with an IRC submission:'Electronic amoeba' finds approximate solution to traveling salesman problem in linear time:

upstart writes in with an IRC submission:Science of sandcastles is clarified, finally:

An Anonymous Coward writes:What happens when an unstoppable force meets an immovable object? We may find out soon!Photos Capture World's Largest Iceberg As It Heads Toward South Atlantic Island:

upstart writes in with an IRC submission:We have a winner in the world's first quantum chess tournament:

An Anonymous Coward writes:Self-Victimhood Is A Personality Type, Researchers Find:

upstart writes in with an IRC submission for RunawayXXXX:The only total solar eclipse of 2020 is happening this week. Here's how to watch it from anywhere.:

cosurgi writes:More precision measurements are planned at LHC (Large Hadron Collider) [1]. Short extract below:When ATLAS (A Toroidal LHC Apparatus) and CMS (Compact Muon Solenoid) discovered the Higgs boson [2] and confirmed the validity of the Brout-Englert-Higgs mechanism, physicists were hungry for more. But the Higgs was a giant tree hiding a meadow full of well-known flowers. No exotic plants were to be found in these high-energy plains. Month after month, the Standard Model has revealed itself to be more solid than ever. Previously when higher energy at LHC was possible scientists were looking for spectacular phenomena that have now mostly been ruled out. The approach now is to carry out precision measurements.In reality, the Standard Model is built on two quantum theories: the electroweak theory [3], which describes the electromagnetic and the weak forces, and quantum chromodynamics, which describes the strong force. So, here we have the basics. One advantage of the Standard Model is that it is predictive: it predicts all possible interactions between particles with a precise probability (which physicists call the "cross section"). However, it doesn't predict the masses of the fundamental particles: these are among the parameters measured by the experiments. These masses vary greatly e.g. the heaviest top quark, is almost 90 000 times heavier than the up quark, the lightest. In total, there are 19 free parameters which determine the inner workings of the standard model (aside from the parameters relating to neutrinos). Measuring them precisely is crucial to be able to calculate the interaction cross sections and test the consistency of the Standard Model. Although the Standard Model doesn't predict their values, it ties some parameters together. "By [more precisely] measuring all of these parameters independently, we test the relationships predicted by the Standard Model and impose constraints on physics beyond the Standard Model." explains Andrew Pilkington, a physicist with the ATLAS experiment.Read more of this story at SoylentNews.

upstart writes in with an IRC submission:Bandwidth Limits at NWS (National Weather Service) Could Hobble Our Weather Apps:

upstart writes in with an IRC submission for RunawayXXXX:Virgin Galactic Aborts First Powered Spaceflight From New Mexico Spaceport :

Zodiac killer's "340 cipher" cracked after 51 yearsMadTinfoilHatter writes:In November 1969 a 340 character long encrypted message was sent in a letter to the San Fransisco Chronicle. It appeared to have been sent by an already-infamous serial killer, popularly going by the name Zodiac killer. The cipher proved to be a very hard nut to crack, and the solution eluded cryptanalysts for over 50 years. On December 3rd three code breakers finally solved the mystery and here they tell us how.Cryptographers Solve Zodiac Killer's "340 Cipher"takyon writes:Zodiac '340 Cipher' cracked by code experts 51 years after it was sent to the S.F. Chronicle

upstart writes in with an IRC submission:Space Station Spiders Found A Hack To Build Webs Without Gravity:

chromas writes:U.S. Schools Are Buying Phone-Hacking Tech That the FBI Uses to Investigate Terrorists:

upstart writes in with an IRC submission:High-end SATA SSD shootout: Samsung 860 Pro vs. Kingston DC500M:

upstart writes in with an IRC submission:Google breaks SMS on many Android phones, is rolling back changes now:

takyon writes:French army gets ethical go-ahead for bionic soldiers

upstart writes in with an IRC submission:US House passes bill to tear down judiciary's paywall:

upstart writes in with an IRC submission:Uber wants drivers and delivery workers to get priority access to COVID-19 vaccine:

takyon writes:Hyundai takes control of Boston Dynamics in $1.1B deal

upstart writes in with an IRC submission:Spotify resets passwords after a security bug exposed users’ private account information – TechCrunch:

upstart writes in with an IRC submission for Runaway1957:Fragments of energy – not waves or particles – may be the fundamental building blocks of the universe:

upstart writes in with an IRC submission for FatPhil:Singapore Approves a Lab-Grown Meat Product, a Global First:

upstart writes in with an IRC submission:New superhighway system discovered in the Solar System:

upstart writes in with an IRC submission:We're watching the world go blind, researchers say:

upstart writes in with an IRC submission for aristarchus_:In their closest alignment in 800 years, Jupiter and Saturn will create a wonder: A Christmas Star:

upstart writes in with an IRC submission for c0lo:Are dining tents a safe way to eat out during the pandemic?:

upstart writes in with an IRC submission:World's largest study on New Year's resolutions reveals 1 tip for thriving in 2021:

upstart writes in with an IRC submission:New sunspot cycle could be one of the strongest on record, new research predicts: Scientists use an extended, 22-year solar cycle to make the forecast:

upstart writes in with an IRC submission for aristarchus_:U.S. physicists rally around ambitious plan to build fusion power plant:

An Anonymous Coward writes:In 2018 employees of two companies, Beijing Baice Technology and Shenzhen Zhipu Technology, planted malware on devices sold by Chinese smartphone maker Gionee with the intent to activate the software to take over user phones. The malware was in the form of an SDK wrapped up in an update to Story Lock Screen, a screen-locker app that came preinstalled with Gionee devices.Court documents say that between December 2018 to October 2019, more than 20 million Gionee devices across the world received more than 2.88 billion "pull functions" (ads), generating more than 27.85 million Chinese yuan ($4.26 million) in profit for the two companies.The four persons received prison sentences ranging from 3 to 3.5 years and fines of 200,000 Chinese yuan ($30,500) each. Shenzhen Zhipu Technology also received a separate fine of 400,000 Chinese yuan ($61,000).Crime pays.Original SubmissionRead more of this story at SoylentNews.

upstart writes in with an IRC submission:Premiere security firm FireEye says it was breached by nation-state hackers:

upstart writes in with an IRC submission:NASA selects cadre of astronauts for Artemis missions - SpaceNews:

upstart writes in with an IRC submission:Amazon Sidewalk will be enabled by default on Echo devices:

upstart writes in with an IRC submission:Facebook sued by FTC, states over alleged abuse of monopoly power:

aristarchus writes:Not breaking news, but a bit of intellectual history is always a pleasant distraction: the BBC on the House of Wisdom, and the introduction of Arabic numberals to Europe.How modern mathematics emerged from a lost Islamic library:

upstart writes in with an IRC submission for aristarchus_:Bees Paint Animal Poo on Their Homes to Repel Giant Hornets:

upstart writes in with an IRC submission for Runaway1956:Roman subjects paid emperor piles of silver to leave them alone, inscription reveals:

upstart writes in with an IRC submission for c0lo:Russian 'doomsday' plane's radio equipment stolen by thieves:

MostCynical writes:The Sydney Morning Herald reports that the biggest overhaul of Australia's national security laws in four decades will see ASIO (Australian Security Intelligence Organisation — the nation's domestic intelligence agency) given powers to spy on Australians when they return from overseas and who had been working for a foreign power.Intelligence review recommends biggest overhaul of national security laws since 1980s:

Freeman writes:Cyberpunk 2077 could trigger seizures in photosensitive players [Updated]:

2020-12-09 23:23:24 UTC: Launch went smoothly as did ascent to altitude and leanover to "bellyflop" orientation. Was able to right itself back to vertical but had too much speed at time of reaching earth. Got big boom on impact. SN9 has been waiting patiently in the wings (as well as SN10 through SN15, in different degrees of completion). Which one will be next and how soon will it be? Can't wait to find out! --martyb2020-12-09 21:25:12 UTC: Tentative T-0 now at 4:40 PM CST / 2240 UTC.2020-12-09 21:03:13 UTC at T-02:06: "Clock paused. Standing by for new T-0."2020-12-09 20:44:45 UTC: SpaceX has put up a new live feed for their SN8 (Serial Number 8) Starship test flight. The feed is currently active; launch is expected in the next few minutes. --martybOriginal story follows.Read more of this story at SoylentNews.

Freeman writes:Tesla plans to raise another $5 billion as value soars above $600 billion:

Freeman writes:Grand theft GPU: $340,000 worth of RTX 3090s "fell off a truck" in China:

An Anonymous Coward writes:CentOS Linux 8 will end in 2021 and shifts focus to CentOS Stream: