An Anonymous Coward writes:NASA just opened "Astromaterials 3D" to let anyone see and study lunar rock samples and Antarctic meteorites. From a release:
canopic jug writes:OpenBSD user Lari Huttunen has a blog post in which he dives into using OpenBSD's rdomain(4) feature to sort work VPNs into separate kernel-level routing tables. This segregates the network traffic in such a way as to prevent traffic in separate routing tables from interacting. With many working from home, insecure work networks have begun to intrude into the home LANs via work-related VPNs. By adding the home network to a work VPN, the LAN becomes merged with work's internal network, usually quite insecure at that. His goal is to keep his personal home devices, especially the IoT items, separate from the now mandatory work-related VPNs on his small-office / home-office network. That way, the work networks can no longer access his appliances.
canopic jug writes:Atlas Obscura has a deep dive into the history and socio-economic factors behind the world's second most expensive spice, vanilla. Vanilla originates from and is still produced in Mexico. The plant, Vanilla Planiflora, is an orchid which grows in the wild in southeastern Mexico. The vines are easily grown, but only very rarely produce fruit outside their native range. Cultivating vanilla worldwide was only possible once it was known how to manually pollinate the flowers. The flowers last only for a matter of hours and although self-fertile, cannot self-pollinate without mechanical intervention. In regions like Madagascar, the pollination is done by hand. Madagascar has been the world's largest vanilla producer for a very long time for a wide range of reasons which the article explains.
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..."
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:
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: