Month: June 2022

Enlarge / Seizure notice on ssndob.ws.

Federal law enforcement agencies say they shut down a group of websites that made over $19 million selling Social Security numbers and other personal data.

A Justice Department press release yesterday announced "the seizure of the SSNDOB Marketplace, a series of websites that operated for years and were used to sell personal information, including the names, dates of birth, and Social Security numbers belonging to individuals in the United States." SSNDOB apparently operated for about a decade, and the Justice Department said it listed the personal information of about 24 million US residents.

The announcement described how the SSNDOB operation was run:

It has been 15 long years since Dwayne Johnson first expressed interest in playing Black Adam, a classic DC Comics supervillain dating back to the 1940s. The project was stuck in development hell for years, but the film is finally coming to theaters this fall. And we now have the first trailer for Black Adam, giving us a peek at the character's origin story and his inevitable encounter with the Justice League of America (JLA).

(Spoilers for some of the comics below.)

The character made a cameo appearance as a villain in the first issue of The Marvel Family comics in 1945. Canonically, he is an ancient Egyptian named Teth-Adam, whom the wizard Shazam chooses to be the latter's successor. Teth-Adam was presumed to be pure of heart, but once endowed with the powers of Shazam, he became corrupt, killed the ruling pharaoh, and took over the Egyptian throne. Shazam was unable to revoke those powers, so he exiled Teth-Adam to the most distant star in the universe.

Enlarge / Hot fire test of a BE-4 rocket engine in West Texas in 2019. (credit: Blue Origin)

United Launch Alliance's powerful new Vulcan rocket was originally scheduled to debut in 2020 but has since been delayed a couple of times.

Presently, it is due to fly during the second half of this year, and the Colorado-based launch company is still holding to the 2022 date. On Wednesday, United Launch Alliance spokeswoman Jessica Rye told Ars, "We are well positioned for a Vulcan first launch late this year." However, another delay now seems inevitable, sources say, with the rocket slipping toward a demonstration launch in 2023.

There are two main issues holding Vulcan back from making its debut: the readiness of its main engines and the payload that it will carry. At this point, neither appear likely to support a 2022 launch.