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martyb writes:SpaceX and United Launch Alliance have made the construction and launch of space-faring rockets seem almost commonplace. Once in a while things don't go completely right, but it is amazing how much a successful launch is now taken for granted. This was not always the case!Growing up, I was faced with the daunting prospects of the Cold War and the nuclear arms race. Every couple weeks there seemed to be yet another nuclear weapon test on the nightly news. First with atomic bombs and later with hydrogen bombs. It was common to hear and see daily reminders of Duck and Cover, fallout shelters, and Mutual Assured Destruction. It was a frightening time to be a child. Especially since there were certain "facilities" in the area that would likely put us on the list of Soviet targets.Juxtaposed with that fear was a sense of hope and destiny. John F. Kennedy had just been elected president. His inaugural address challenged: "Ask not what your country can do for you. Ask what you can do for your country." Then, on the heels of the USSR's Yuri Gagarin becoming the first person in space, Kennedy became "eager for the U.S. to take the lead in the Space Race, for reasons of national security and prestige." A short while later, Kennedy gave his famous speech (transcript and video [NB: He doesn't even seem to sweat!]) in which he uttered the challenge:

An Anonymous Coward writes:Noted pianist McCoy Tyner just passed. Perhaps best known for five years with John Coltrane in the early 1960s, he also recorded with his own band for many years. This is probably the obit of record,

DannyB wrote in with a submission which became:Ilya Dudkin at Skywell Software has a storyTop 7 Dying Programming Languages to Avoid Studying in 2019 –2020.Each language gets a paragraph's treatment as to why he thinks these languages are dead or dying. Those languages are:

[Editor's note: We had been gathering together COVID-19 stories for eventual release as a round-up story. I lack time at the moment to personally gather all those together with this most recent submission. We will run the next round-up in the next few days. But given the significance of this submission, I wished not to delay it from being immediately released to the community. --martyb]DeathMonkey writes:World Health Organization declares the coronavirus outbreak a global pandemic:

DannyB writes:NASA OIG: Tell Congress that moon rocket is over budget and behind schedule:

DannyB writes:Windows has a new wormable vulnerability, and there's no patch in sight:

mrpg submitted a link which became the inspiration for:Microsoft takes down millions of zombie bots:

upstart writes in with an IRC submission for Bytram:High-Severity Flaws Plague Intel Graphics Drivers:

upstart writes in with an IRC submission for Bytram:Gastronauts: Developing food ready for the next space race:

upstart writes in with an IRC submission for SoyCow4275:Virgin Media Data Breach Exposes Info of 900,000 Customers:

upstart writes in with an IRC submission for SoyCow4275:Check Point chap: Small firms don't invest in infosec then hope they won't get hacked. Spoiler alert: They get hacked:

Top VPN Software Had a Major Security Flawupstart writes in with an IRC submission for SoyCow4275:Top VPN software had a major security flaw:

Arthur T Knackerbracket has found the following story:

The Mighty Buzzard writes:The fine folks at the CBC bring us the following report:

An Anonymous Coward writes:Open Source Initiative bans co-founder, Eric S Raymond:

takyon writes:On February 28, SpaceX's SN01 Starship prototype imploded and exploded during a pressurization test (Mk1 failed in November). A day later, Eric Berger from Ars Technica visited SpaceX's facilities in Boca Chica, Texas. Some highlights from the story include:

Arthur T Knackerbracket has found the following story:

takyon writes:Minor convictions for ex-CIA coder in hacking tools case

canopic jug writes:Dustin Kirkland has written a blog post about telecommuting for over two decades. He goes into a lot of detail about his particular setup. He closes asking what other people's remote offices look like and what, if anything, he missed.

upstart writes in with an IRC submission for SoyCow4275:New US Bill Aims to Protect Researchers who Disclose Govt Backdoors:

upstart writes in with an IRC submission for Bytram:Scientists monitor brains replaying memories in real time: Our brains use distinct firing patterns to store and replay memories:

upstart writes in with an IRC submission for Bytram:One step closer to understanding the human brain:

upstart writes in with an IRC submission for Bytram:Downsizing the McMansion: Study gauges a sustainable size for future homes:

upstart writes in with an IRC submission for Bytram:Argonne's pioneering user facility to add magic number factory:

edIII writes:Max Von Sydow has passed away on 8 March 2020 at the age of 90 at his home in Provence, France.A film icon, versatile actor, Max Von Sydow was part of many sci-fi movies now cult classics. Flash Gordon, Conan the Barbarian, Strange Brew, Dune, The Minority Report, and The Exorcist to name just a few. Some may also remember him as the voice of Vigo the Carpathian, in Ghost Busters II.I will always remember him as Ming the Merciless.R.I.P.Original SubmissionRead more of this story at SoylentNews.

An Anonymous Coward writes:Led Zeppelin have triumphed in a long-running copyright dispute after a US appeals court ruled they did not steal the opening riff in Stairway To Heaven.The British rock legends were accused in 2014 of ripping off a song called Taurus by the US band Spirit.Taurus was written in 1968, three years before Stairway To Heaven.Now, the 9th US Circuit Court of Appeals in San Francisco has upheld a 2016 trial verdict that found Led Zeppelin did not copy it.https://www.bbc.com/news/entertainment-arts-51805905Original SubmissionRead more of this story at SoylentNews.

Phoenix666 writes:Phys.org:

Phoenix666 writes:Phys.org:

Phoenix666 writes:SingularityHub:

An Anonymous Coward writes:What does it mean to "promote child exploitation"? When it's figurines that have been sold for years but now violate Amazon's statutes about promoting child exploitation which resulted in listings being removed. Chuck Gaffney has run a successful Amazon store for years selling anime-related products, up until recently when Amazon started cracking down on anything that could be perceived as "promoting child exploitation".While it can be difficult for online retailers to represent themselves as selling genuine merchandise — meaning reputation means a lot — this type of behavior from the market owner is very discouraging. In response, the seller blames a "neopuritan crusade" against anime figures.The characters at the center of this disagreement are: Hatsune Miku and Kaitō Tenshi Twin Angel.It's a wonder that anything anime-related survives importation to the US from Japan.Original SubmissionRead more of this story at SoylentNews.

An Anonymous Coward writes:OPEC tried to keep prices high by cutting output but Russia instead started a price war which could see petrol drop to AU$1. With Saudi Arabia and Russia battling it out for market share to get past the US it could be consumers who come out on top. This change could affect many markets from agriculture to shipping having impacts across the world.

upstart writes in with an IRC submission for Bytram:Onward film review: Pixar rolls a 20, nails homage to D&D-styled adventure:

upstart writes in with an IRC submission for Bytram:SpaceX tourist trips to space station reportedly to cost $55 million each:

upstart writes in with an IRC submission for Bytram:Dimming Betelgeuse likely isn't cold, just dusty, new study shows:

upstart writes in with an IRC submission for Bytram:Chlamydia-related bacteria discovered deep below the Arctic Ocean:

upstart writes in with an IRC submission for Bytram:A new genus of forking fern family reported:

upstart writes in with an IRC submission for Bytram:Super magnets from a 3-D printer:

Arthur T Knackerbracket has found the following story:

upstart writes in with an IRC submission for Bytram:A filter for cleaner qubits:

upstart writes in with an IRC submission for Bytram:DARPA Challenge Autonomous Robot Teams To Navigate Unfinished Nuclear Power Plant:

upstart writes in with an IRC submission for Bytram:Facebook pulls Trump campaign ads for fake census claims:

Arthur T Knackerbracket has found the following story:

An Anonymous Coward writes:https://www.economist.com/prospero/2020/03/06/the-hitchhikers-guide-to-the-galaxy-turns-42EVERY YEAR the world celebrates the anniversaries of masterworks and maestros. In 2020 there will be a host of events and publications commemorating the lives of Ludwig van Beethoven, Raphael, Charles Dickens, Anne Brontë and William Wordsworth. Such milestones usually come in neat multiples of 50. The 42nd anniversary of anything is rarely observed.Yet on March 8th fans of "The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy" ("HHGTTG") will pay tribute to the comedy science-fiction series, which had its radio premiere on that day in 1978 and was subsequently adapted into novels, TV series, video games and a film. To mark the occasion, Pan Macmillan has reprinted the scripts and novels in colourful new editions ("HHGTTG" was the first book published under their "Pan Original" imprint to sell more than 1m copies). The British Library will host a day of "celebrations, conversation and performance". BBC Radio 4 has aired the original episodes; Radio 4 Extra will put on a "five-hour Hitchhiker's spectacular" including archival material and specially commissioned programmes. Such is the enduring interest in Douglas Adams's story that it is due to be adapted into a new television series by Hulu, a streaming service.Original SubmissionRead more of this story at SoylentNews.

upstart writes in with an IRC submission for SoyCow4275:Ransomware Attackers Use Your Cloud Backups Against You:

upstart writes in with an IRC submission for Bytram:New sleep method strengthens brain's ability to retain memories: Process that uses smell can strengthen memories stored in one side of the brain:

takyon writes:New AMD Side Channel Attacks Discovered, Impacts Zen Architecture (archive)

upstart writes in with an IRC submission for Bytram:Graveyards can be a reservoir for antibiotic resistant bacteria:

upstart writes in with an IRC submission for Bytram:Boeing hit with 61 safety fixes for astronaut capsule:

takyon writes:AMD revealed a number of details about its upcoming CPUs and GPUs at its Financial Analyst Day 2020:

takyon writes:Amazon is reportedly working to find a cure for the common cold