Month: July 2018

Mozilla

Fresh off the "Moz://a" branding from last year, Mozilla is creating new iconography for Firefox and the many Firefox derivatives it ships. The Mozilla blog showed off two competing design systems that will dictate the future look of the Firefox logo and is asking for feedback on the new designs.

The blog explains the reasoning for a redesign, saying, "As an icon, that fast fox with a flaming tail doesn’t offer enough design tools to represent this entire product family. Recoloring that logo or dissecting the fox could only take us so far. We needed to start from a new place." It produced two designs called just "System 1" and "System 2," and while there won't be any direct voting, you can leave a comment on the Mozilla blog with your preferences. Mozilla also notes these aren't final, and "Each individual icon will undergo several rounds of refinement, or may change entirely, between now and their respective product launches."

(video link)

The US Air Force has some of the most high-tech aircraft in the world flying missions at the spear's tip. But a remarkably large number of its systems are what would gently be referred to as "vintage"—and those systems are performing some of the Air Force's most important missions. One of those senior-citizen systems earned its wings during the war in Vietnam—the 48-year-old UH-1 Iroquois, also known as the "Huey".

We've reported frequently on the role that the A-10 Thunderbolt II fills for the Air Force. The 1970s-era turbofan-powered tank-killer turned close-air-support-provider-extraordinaire is constantly called upon in Afghanistan and Syria to provide firepower to protect US and allied forces. The B-52, the strategic bomber that entered service in the 1950s, has years of service still ahead of it—flying long-duration missions ranging from strategic deterrence to close air support in uncontested skies. And the land leg of the US nuclear triad, the Minuteman III ICBM, entered service in the 1960s.

Enlarge / Food and Drug Administration Commissioner Scott Gottleib is not amused. (credit: Getty | Chip Somodevilla )

The Food and Drug Administration is cracking down on companies “deceptively” marketing unproven “vaginal rejuvenation” devices and treatments that have been reported to cause serious burns, scars, and chronic pain, the agency announced on Monday, July 30.

In addition to warning consumers, the FDA revealed that it has taken action, sending warning letters to seven companies marketing “energy-based” devices that are being used outside of their cleared or approved intended uses. Some of the devices, which are commonly radiofrequency- or laser-based, have legit uses such as removing warts or pre-cancerous vaginal or cervical tissue.

But, the agency notes, there’s no proof that these devices are effective for any of the “rejuvenating” procedures companies claim and some celebrities promote. These include empowering-sounding treatments that claim to tighten tissue, relieve pain, and boost sexual pleasure. More specifically, the companies collectively claim that the devices are able to treat vaginal “laxity,” pain during urination or intercourse, decreased sexual sensation, and vaginal dryness, itching, or atrophy. Some of these issues are symptoms related to menopause, urinary incontinence, or sexual function issues.