Ubuntu 19.10 is here nearly 15 years after first Ubuntu release

Ubuntu has been one oft he most popular GNU/Linux distributions for well over a decade… but the operating system has changed quite a bit over the years. The latest release, Ubuntu 19.10, came out this week… almost exactly 15 years after the…

Ubuntu has been one oft he most popular GNU/Linux distributions for well over a decade… but the operating system has changed quite a bit over the years. The latest release, Ubuntu 19.10, came out this week… almost exactly 15 years after the first version of Ubuntu was released on October 20th, 2004. In a blog […]

The post Ubuntu 19.10 is here nearly 15 years after first Ubuntu release appeared first on Liliputing.

XC40 Recharge: Volvo kündigt Elektro-SUV an

Das erste Elektroauto unter der Marke Volvo kommt: Der schwedische Hersteller will ab 2020 ein erstes SUV mit Elektroantrieb bauen. Weitere sollen folgen. (Volvo, Technologie)

Das erste Elektroauto unter der Marke Volvo kommt: Der schwedische Hersteller will ab 2020 ein erstes SUV mit Elektroantrieb bauen. Weitere sollen folgen. (Volvo, Technologie)

Air Force finally retires 8-inch floppies from missile launch control system

“Solid state storage” replaces IBM Series/1’s floppy drive.

Pour one out for the 8-inch floppy, retired from the Air Force after 50 years of service.

Enlarge / Pour one out for the 8-inch floppy, retired from the Air Force after 50 years of service. (credit: CBS News)

Five years ago, a CBS 60 Minutes report publicized a bit of technology trivia many in the defense community were aware of: the fact that eight-inch floppy disks were still used to store data critical to operating the Air Force's intercontinental ballistic missile command, control, and communications network. The system, once called the Strategic Air Command Digital Network (SACDIN), relied on IBM Series/1 computers installed by the Air Force at Minuteman II missile sites in the 1960s and 1970s.

Those floppy disks have now been retired. Despite the contention by the Air Force at the time of the 60 Minutes report that the archaic hardware offered a cybersecurity advantage, the service has completed an upgrade to what is now known as the Strategic Automated Command and Control System (SACCS), as Defense News reports. SAACS is an upgrade that swaps the floppy disk system for what Lt. Col. Jason Rossi, commander of the Air Force’s 595th Strategic Communications Squadron, described as a “highly secure solid state digital storage solution.” The floppy drives were fully retired in June.

But the IBM Series/1 computers remain, in part because of their reliability and security. And it's not clear whether other upgrades to "modernize" the system have been completed. Air Force officials have acknowledged network upgrades that have enhanced the speed and capacity of SACCS' communications systems, and a Government Accountability Office report in 2016 noted that the Air Force planned to "update its data storage solutions, port expansion processors, portable terminals, and desktop terminals by the end of fiscal year 2017." But it's not clear how much of that has been completed.

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Google: Pixel 4 entsperrt auch bei geschlossenen Augen

Googles neue Pixel-4-Modelle haben keinen Fingerabdrucksensor mehr, sondern nur noch eine Gesichtsentsperrung. Diese basiert auf Infrarotwellen, was vermeintlich sicher ist – allerdings müssen die Augen des Nutzers nicht geöffnet sein, was ein Problem …

Googles neue Pixel-4-Modelle haben keinen Fingerabdrucksensor mehr, sondern nur noch eine Gesichtsentsperrung. Diese basiert auf Infrarotwellen, was vermeintlich sicher ist - allerdings müssen die Augen des Nutzers nicht geöffnet sein, was ein Problem ist. (Pixel 4, Smartphone)

Arbeitsspeicher: Gskill bringt DDR4-4000 mit scharfer CL15-Latenz

Hoher Takt und niedrige Latenz: Von Gskill kommt eine optimierte Version des Trident Z mit DDR4-4000 und CL15-16-16-18. Der Speicher eignet sich für schnelle CPUs wie den Core-i9-9900K oder den Ryzen 9 3900X. (DDR4, Prozessor)

Hoher Takt und niedrige Latenz: Von Gskill kommt eine optimierte Version des Trident Z mit DDR4-4000 und CL15-16-16-18. Der Speicher eignet sich für schnelle CPUs wie den Core-i9-9900K oder den Ryzen 9 3900X. (DDR4, Prozessor)

A new pesticide is all the buzz

The EPA has approved the first-ever bee-distributed pesticide for the US market

Image of a bee on a flower.

Enlarge (credit: Kim Mitchell; USFWS)

Bees’ fuzzy yellow bodies and hairy legs are custom-built for picking up pollen. Nothing can distribute the yellow powder more efficiently—something farmers that shell out for commercial beehives every growing season know all too well. And starting with this fall’s growing season, bees may be given some cargo to carry on their outbound journey to the blossoms: pesticides.

On August 28, the EPA approved the first-ever bee-distributed organic pesticide for the US market—a fungus-fighting powder called Vectorite that contains the spores of a naturally-occurring fungus called Clonostachys rosea (CR-7). CR-7 is completely harmless to its host plant, and acts as a hostile competitor to other, less innocuous fungi. It has been approved for commercial growers of flowering crops like blueberries, strawberries, almonds, and tomatoes.

The beauty of Vectorite is that it mimics a “locally appropriate natural system,” said Vicki Wojcik, director of Pollinator Partnership Canada. “It’s an interesting twist…where care for the health of the pollinator is actually vital because it is your actual vector.”

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Mailinglisten: Yahoo Groups wird deutlich eingeschränkt

Mit kurzer Vorwarnzeit wird der Service Yahoo Groups massiv eingeschränkt. Bald können keine neuen Dateien mehr hochgeladen werden, bestehende Daten werden größtenteils im Dezember gelöscht. (Yahoo, Internet)

Mit kurzer Vorwarnzeit wird der Service Yahoo Groups massiv eingeschränkt. Bald können keine neuen Dateien mehr hochgeladen werden, bestehende Daten werden größtenteils im Dezember gelöscht. (Yahoo, Internet)

Hyperloop: rLoop kauft Reste von Arrivo

Im Dezember vergangenen Jahres hat das Hyperloop-Unternehmen Arrivo Insolvenz angemeldet. Das Startup rLoop hat das geistige Eigentum übernommen und will die Projekte weiterführen. (Hyperloop, Technologie)

Im Dezember vergangenen Jahres hat das Hyperloop-Unternehmen Arrivo Insolvenz angemeldet. Das Startup rLoop hat das geistige Eigentum übernommen und will die Projekte weiterführen. (Hyperloop, Technologie)

Dapr: Microsoft legt Runtime für verteilte Anwendungen offen

Mit der Open-Source-Runtime Dapr, der Distributed Application Runtime, will Microsoft das Entwickeln von Anwendungen mit Microservice-Architekturen vereinfachen. (Microsoft, Softwareentwicklung)

Mit der Open-Source-Runtime Dapr, der Distributed Application Runtime, will Microsoft das Entwickeln von Anwendungen mit Microservice-Architekturen vereinfachen. (Microsoft, Softwareentwicklung)

Clone Rudd: Living With Yourself is great sci-fi in the Orphan Black mold

Netflix brings on double the Rudd for double the male-fragility exploration.

Two Rudds are better than one in <em>Living With Yourself</em>.

Enlarge / Two Rudds are better than one in Living With Yourself. (credit: Netflix)

It's easy to criticize long-running sci-fi series for losing their way after a few seasons. The initial spark might fade; ridiculous plot twists might emerge; the whole thing might end with a painful hand-wave of logic.

But let's not forget that these hit TV series, and the expectations assigned by their fans, all start with some incredible coincidences. How often do we see the right cast, writers, directors, and out-there concept come together in a watchable, memorable series? And what about when such a series jumps on a seemingly familiar sci-fi trope, yet still digs up new ideas?

By the time I finished marathoning the debut season of Living With Yourself, a Netflix series about cloning starring everyman Paul Rudd (Ant Man, Anchorman), I was floored by how this modest series had defied my expectations. When I first sat with this show, I wasn't hot for its shameless use of the "cohabitating clones" concept from Orphan Black. Unlike that BBC America series, Living With Yourself comes with no genetic-research intrigue, no identity-hunting mystery.

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