ReHacked #107: Key Component to China’s Belt & Road, MS Teams is the reason some Android users can't dial 911, Masayuki Uemura Has Passed Away and more

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A Key Component to China’s Belt & Road: the Spatial Information Corridor - Dongfang Hour #economy #politics #world

Earlier this month, we saw the First China-Africa BeiDou System Cooperation Forum, held in Beijing on Friday 5 November. The forum was a big one, with representatives from dozens of African nations and a handful of high-level Chinese officials in attendance. While the forum itself saw a limited number of concrete announcements, it was but the latest example of China’s Belt & Road (BRI) Spatial Information Corridor, a series of primarily space projects including BeiDou, global communication satellite constellations, and global EO constellations. While much of the infrastructure in the Spatial Information Corridor will be used by China, there is also clearly an export component to it, as was witnessed at the China-Africa BeiDou Forum a couple of weeks ago.

Microsoft Teams is the reason some Android users can't dial 911 #software #security

Google's Pixel Community account shared the company's findings in a comment on the post this evening after its team reproduced the issue. The bug was spotted on devices where a user installed Microsoft Teams but hadn't logged in with an account. An "unintended interaction" between the app and Android prevented emergency calls from being placed properly.

Chrome Users Beware: Manifest V3 is Deceitful and Threatening | Electronic Frontier Foundation #privacy #internet #software

Manifest V3, Google Chrome’s soon-to-be definitive basket of changes to the world of web browser extensions, has been framed by its authors as “a step in the direction of privacy, security, and performance.” But we think these changes are a raw deal for users.  We’ve said that since Manifest V3 was announced, and continue to say so as its implementation is now imminent. Like FLoC and Privacy Sandbox before it, Manifest V3 is another example of the inherent conflict of interest that comes from Google controlling both the dominant web browser and one of the largest internet advertising networks.

Masayuki Uemura, Architect Of The NES And SNES, Has Passed Away #promemoria #history

There are certain individuals whose contribution to video games are huge and without whom the modern landscape for our beloved hobby would be very different. Masayuki Uemura is one of those people. Today, it was announced the Japanese engineer, who helped create the influential NES and SNES consoles, died on December 6 at the age of 78.

Number of journalists behind bars reaches global high - Committee to Protect Journalists #juornalism #freespeech #world

It’s been an especially bleak year for defenders of press freedom. CPJ’s 2021 prison census found that the number of reporters jailed for their work hit a new global record of 293, up from a revised total of 280 in 2020. At least 24 journalists were killed because of their coverage so far this year; 18 others died in circumstances too murky to determine whether they were specific targets.

China remains the world’s worst jailer of journalists for the third year in a row, with 50 behind bars. Myanmar soared to the second slot after the media crackdown that followed its February 1 military coup. Egypt, Vietnam, and Belarus, respectively, rounded out the top five.

Seaborg's molten salt invention may be the new lithium-ion battery | Sifted #technology #energy #futurism

One of the biggest difficulties with wind or solar energy is finding a good way to store it. Lithium-ion batteries are too expensive and need frequent replacing. Molten salt is a more efficient solution — but it tends to be better for storing heat rather than power. If you want both heat and power — for a low price — there have been few good options. Until now.

Seaborg, a small next-generation nuclear startup based in Copenhagen, has discovered a better molten salt storage solution using sodium hydroxide. Hydroxides can contain more heat per salt unit, making it more efficient and reducing the amount of salt needed. It s also about 90% cheaper than the cost of the salts currently used.

“We can more than half the cost of thermal energy storage in one go. And that allows us to come to a stage where we think [our business] can be competitive without any subsidies,” says Ask Emil Løvschall-Jensen, cofounder of Seaborg.

THE CIA AND THE MEDIA #politics #history #longread

How Americas Most Powerful News Media Worked Hand in Glove with the Central Intelligence Agency and Why the Church Committee Covered It Up

BY CARL BERNSTEIN

In 1953, Joseph Alsop, then one of America’s leading syndicated columnists, went to the Philippines to cover an election. He did not go because he was asked to do so by his syndicate. He did not go because he was asked to do so by the newspapers that printed his column. He went at the request of the CIA.

Alsop is one of more than 400 American journalists who in the past twenty‑five years have secretly carried out assignments for the Central Intelligence Agency, according to documents on file at CIA headquarters. Some of these journalists’ relationships with the Agency were tacit; some were explicit. There was cooperation, accommodation and overlap. Journalists provided a full range of clandestine services—from simple intelligence gathering to serving as go‑betweens with spies in Communist countries. Reporters shared their notebooks with the CIA. Editors shared their staffs. Some of the journalists were Pulitzer Prize winners, distinguished reporters who considered themselves ambassadors without‑portfolio for their country. Most were less exalted: foreign correspondents who found that their association with the Agency helped their work; stringers and freelancers who were as interested in the derring‑do of the spy business as in filing articles; and, the smallest category, full‑time CIA employees masquerading as journalists abroad. In many instances, CIA documents show, journalists were engaged to perform tasks for the CIA with the consent of the managements of America’s leading news organizations.

Sleep technique used by Salvador Dalí really works | Live Science #psychology #history

A sleep technique described by surrealist artist Salvador Dalí and famous inventor Thomas Edison might actually work to inspire creativity, researchers have found.

To get the creativity boost, you essentially need to wake up just as a certain sleep stage sets in, where reality seems to blend into fantasy.

To use the technique, visionaries such as Dalí and Edison would hold an object, such as a spoon or a ball, while falling asleep in a chair. As they drifted off, the object would fall, make a noise and wake them up. Having spent a few moments on the brink of unconsciousness, they would be ready to start their work.

Log4Shell: RCE 0-day exploit found in log4j2, a popular Java logging package | LunaSec #security #software

Many, many services are vulnerable to this exploit. Cloud services like Steam, Apple iCloud, and apps like Minecraft have already been found to be vulnerable.

Anybody using Apache Struts is likely vulnerable. We've seen similar vulnerabilities exploited before in breaches like the 2017 Equifax data breach.

Many Open Source projects like the Minecraft server, Paper, have already begun patching their usage of log4j2.

Defensive CSS #software

Extensive CSS guide.

Mercedes Beats Tesla to Hands-Free Driving on the Autobahn | Transport Topics #technology #futurism

Daimler AG’s Mercedes-Benz won regulatory approval to deploy a hands-free driving system in Germany ahead of Tesla Inc., gaining an edge in the race to offer higher levels of automation in one of the world’s most competitive car markets.

The automaker got the green light to sell its Drive Pilot package for use on stretches of the country’s Autobahn network at a speed of up to 37 miles per hour, Mercedes said Dec. 9.

The system was approved for Level 3 autonomous driving, a notch higher than Tesla’s Level 2 Autopilot system, and will allow drivers to take their hands off the wheel in slow-moving traffic.

Japanese scientists develop vaccine to eliminate cells behind aging | The Japan Times #health #science #futurism

A Japanese research team said it developed a vaccine to remove so-called zombie cells that accumulate with age and damage nearby cells, causing aging-related diseases including arterial stiffening.

The team, including Juntendo University professor Toru Minamino, confirmed that mice administered with the vaccine showed decreases in the zombie cells, medically known as senescent cells, and in areas affected by arterial stiffening.

“We can expect that (the vaccine) will be applied to the treatment of arterial stiffening, diabetes and other aging-related diseases,” Minamino said.

The results of the team’s research were published in the online version of the journal Nature Aging on Friday.

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