Month: August 2023

Enlarge / Wallet solutions to prevent RFID card skimming. (credit: Chuong Nguyen)

When we think of banking security, we often think of using strong passwords, not recycling old passcodes, and adding multi-factor authentication to accounts. But having good physical security is just as important as practicing good online security hygiene. With many debit cards and credit cards shipping with NFC, there is a real risk that valuable financial information can be skimmed–even if the skimming is not done with malicious intent.

In April 2023, a San Francisco ABC News affiliate reported that a local Safeway grocery store had inadvertently charged a customer’s card while it was still in her purse. The credit card charge was facilitated by an overly sensitive tap-to-pay payment terminal at the checkout stand that had detected the NFC-enabled American Express card in the customer’s purse.

To better understand what had happened in the hope of preventing a repeat incident, the affected Safeway patron had reached out to the grocer. But instead of receiving a sympathetic apology, Safeway essentially blamed the customer, informing her that she should have her credit card cards protected.

Enlarge / Mifepristone (Mifeprex) and Misoprostol, the two drugs used in a medication abortion, are seen at the Women's Reproductive Clinic, which provides legal medication abortion services, in Santa Teresa, New Mexico, on June 17, 2022. (credit: Getty | Robyn Beck)

A federal appeals court on Wednesday reversed part of a lower court's controversial ruling that would have revoked regulatory approval for the abortion and miscarriage medication mifepristone, which the Food and Drug Administration granted in 2000. The appeals court also left in place the FDA's 2019 authorization of a generic form of the drug, which is most commonly used.

However, the appeals court preserved other aspects of the earlier ruling, which, if upheld by the Supreme Court, would roll back FDA actions that expanded and eased access to mifepristone. Those include allowing mifepristone to be dispensed via mail and telemedicine, and used up to 10 weeks into a pregnancy rather than an earlier limit of seven weeks.

For now, today's ruling by the conservative panel of judges for the 5th Circuit Court of Appeals in New Orleans does not affect access to mifepristone. The Supreme Court said earlier this year that mifepristone would remain accessible under the current rules until the appeals process has concluded. The high court will ultimately decide the pill's fate.

Enlarge / Mifepristone (Mifeprex) and Misoprostol, the two drugs used in a medication abortion, are seen at the Women's Reproductive Clinic, which provides legal medication abortion services, in Santa Teresa, New Mexico, on June 17, 2022. (credit: Getty | Robyn Beck)

A federal appeals court on Wednesday reversed part of a lower court's controversial ruling that would have revoked regulatory approval for the abortion and miscarriage medication mifepristone, which the Food and Drug Administration granted in 2000. The appeals court also left in place the FDA's 2019 authorization of a generic form of the drug, which is most commonly used.

However, the appeals court preserved other aspects of the earlier ruling, which, if upheld by the Supreme Court, would roll back FDA actions that expanded and eased access to mifepristone. Those include allowing mifepristone to be dispensed via mail and telemedicine, and used up to 10 weeks into a pregnancy rather than an earlier limit of seven weeks.

For now, today's ruling by the conservative panel of judges for the 5th Circuit Court of Appeals in New Orleans does not affect access to mifepristone. The Supreme Court said earlier this year that mifepristone would remain accessible under the current rules until the appeals process has concluded. The high court will ultimately decide the pill's fate.

Enlarge / CrossOver 23 on macOS Ventura. (credit: Samuel Axon)

Codeweavers took to its official forums today to announce the release of CrossOver 23.0.0, the new version of its software that aims to make emulating Windows software and games easier on macOS, Linux, and ChromeOS systems.

CrossOver 23 has updated to Wine 8.0.1, and it's loaded with improvements across all its platforms. The most notable, though, is the addition of DirectX 12 support under macOS via VKD3D and MoltenVK. This marks the first time most Mac users have had access to software that relies on DirectX 12; previously, only DirectX 11 was supported, and that went for other software solutions like Parallels, too.

This new release adds "initial support" for geometry shaders and transforms feedback on macOS Ventura. Codeweavers claims that will address a lot of problems with "missing graphics or black screens in-game" in titles like MechWarrior 5: Mercenaries, Street Fighter V, Tekken 7, and Octopath Traveler.

Enlarge / CrossOver 23 on macOS Ventura. (credit: Samuel Axon)

Codeweavers took to its official forums today to announce the release of CrossOver 23.0.0, the new version of its software that aims to make emulating Windows software and games easier on macOS, Linux, and ChromeOS systems.

CrossOver 23 has updated to Wine 8.0.1, and it's loaded with improvements across all its platforms. The most notable, though, is the addition of DirectX 12 support under macOS via VKD3D and MoltenVK. This marks the first time most Mac users have had access to software that relies on DirectX 12; previously, only DirectX 11 was supported, and that went for other software solutions like Parallels, too.

This new release adds "initial support" for geometry shaders and transforms feedback on macOS Ventura. Codeweavers claims that will address a lot of problems with "missing graphics or black screens in-game" in titles like MechWarrior 5: Mercenaries, Street Fighter V, Tekken 7, and Octopath Traveler.

Enlarge (credit: Getty Images)

In response to recently enacted state legislation in Iowa, administrators are removing banned books from Mason City school libraries, and officials are using ChatGPT to help them pick the books, according to The Gazette and Popular Science.

The new law behind the ban, signed by Governor Kim Reynolds, is part of a wave of educational reforms that Republican lawmakers believe are necessary to protect students from exposure to damaging and obscene materials. Specifically, Senate File 496 mandates that every book available to students in school libraries be “age appropriate” and devoid of any “descriptions or visual depictions of a sex act,” per Iowa Code 702.17.

But banning books is hard work, according to administrators, so they need to rely on machine intelligence to get it done within the three-month window mandated by the law. "It is simply not feasible to read every book and filter for these new requirements," said Bridgette Exman, the assistant superintendent of the school district, in a statement quoted by The Gazette. "Therefore, we are using what we believe is a defensible process to identify books that should be removed from collections at the start of the 23-24 school year."