Month: August 2024

Enlarge / For a true representation of the people-search industry, a couple of these folks should have lanyards that connect them by the pockets. (credit: Getty Images)

If you've searched your name online in the last few years, you know what's out there, and it's bad. Alternately, you've seen the lowest-common-denominator ads begging you to search out people from your past to see what crimes are on their record. People-search sites are a gross loophole in the public records system, and it doesn't feel like there's much you can do about it.

Not that some firms haven't promised to try. Do they work? Not really, Consumer Reports (CR) suggests in a recent study.

"[O]ur study shows that many of these services fall short of providing the kind of help and performance you'd expect, especially at the price levels some of them are charging," said Yael Grauer, program manager for CR, in a statement.

Enlarge / EUS panel test weld at the Michoud Assembly Facility on Tuesday, February 9, 2021. (credit: Michael DeMocker/NASA)

The NASA program to develop a new upper stage for the Space Launch System rocket is seven years behind schedule and significantly over budget, a new report from the space agency's inspector general finds. However, beyond these headline numbers, there is also some eye-opening information about the project's prime contractor, Boeing, and its poor quality control practices.

The new Exploration Upper Stage, a more powerful second stage for the SLS rocket that made its debut in late 2022, is viewed by NASA as a key piece of its Artemis Program to return humans to the Moon. The current plan calls for the use of this new upper stage beginning with the second lunar landing, the Artemis IV mission, currently scheduled for 2028. In NASA parlance, the upgraded version of the SLS rocket is known as Block 1B.

However, for many reasons—including the readiness of lunar landers, Lunar Gateway hardware, a new mobile launch tower, and more—NASA is unlikely to hold that date. Now, based on information in this new report, we can probably add the Exploration Upper Stage to the list.

Enlarge / A little auto-tiling on the Cosmic desktop. (credit: System76)

System76 has released an alpha version of its Cosmic desktop environment for Linux and Unix-like systems. The Linux hardware firm isn't targeting only its customers with its GNOME replacement; it also hopes to get distro maintainers and app makers on board with its Rust-built, UX-focused desktop.

While the Cosmic desktop will be built into the Linux vendor's Pop!_OS (which is also in the alpha ISO), it's also available to other systems, as you might expect. System76 provides drop-in instructions for Fedora and Arch Linux installs, among others.

System76 says it is "excited to see COSMIC integration elevate Linux as a whole," along with what results "from making UX-building more accessible." By building Cosmic natively in the Rust language, System76 also intends to provide a more stable and memory-safe environment for apps.

Enlarge / The new ChargePoint Omni Port is actually a pair of cables. (credit: ChargePoint)

Last year, a remarkable thing happened in the car world. Just as it looked like everyone other than Tesla had settled on an industry-standard charging plug, the industry moved en masse to the smaller, more elegant plug designed by Tesla.

But native ports won't start showing up in non-Tesla EVs until next year, and more than half of the EVs already on North American roads use J1776 (for AC) and CCS1 (for DC) charge ports. For many drivers, the future will probably involve keeping an adapter in the trunk. ChargePoint's Omni Port, which debuted this morning, will let drivers forget about their dongles.

"With Omni port, ChargePoint solved the challenges associated with a multiple-connector environment, ensuring Tesla and non-Tesla drivers can continue to expect a world-class driver experience. We are giving drivers and site hosts assurance that ChargePoint will continue to meet all their charging needs now and in the future,” said Rick Wilmer, ChargePoint CEO.