Week 49 of 2020, ReHacked #2
Space, technology and science news
Hello, my friends, this is first real despite # says issue No.2 ReHacked newsletter. For now I decided to issue mail twice a week: on Thursday for you to have some interesting to your Friday morning coffee and on Monday - the “weekend edition” with Friday-Sunday news.
All your feedback and opinions are highly appreciated and welcome. You can leave feedback in comments or just reply to this email. Enjoy!
Dainius
Microsoft is working on an Android subsystem for Windows 10
Microsoft is reportedly creating a subsystem, similar to the Windows Subsystem for Linux, that allows Android applications to run on Windows 10.
With around a 70% mobile market share and, unlike iOS, an open app ecosystem, it would be a mistake not to bring Android support directly into Windows 10.
https://www.bleepingcomputer.com/news/microsoft/microsoft-is-working-on-an-android-subsystem-for-windows-10/
#software
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Dave Prowse: Darth Vader actor dies aged 85 - BBC News
Dave Prowse, the Bristolian former bodybuilder best known for playing Darth Vader in the original Star Wars trilogy, has died aged 85. Prowse was cast as Vader for his imposing physique, even though the role was voiced by James Earl Jones.
He joined the Force, he will be with us forever.
https://www.bbc.com/news/entertainment-arts-55117704
#culture #in-memoriam
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microG Project
A free-as-in-freedom re-implementation of Google’s proprietary Android user space apps and libraries.
https://microg.org/
#software
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Chess Tactics Explained in English: Ward Farnsworth's Predator at the Chessboard
Chess tactics explained.
https://www.chesstactics.org/
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The Arecibo Observatory radio telescope in Puerto Rico has collapsed | Space
After two cable failures in the span of four months, Puerto Rico's most venerable astronomy facility, the Arecibo radio telescope, has collapsed in an uncontrolled structural failure.
The U.S. National Science Foundation (NSF), which owns the site, decided in November to proceed with decommissioning the telescope in response to the damage, which engineers deemed too severe to stabilize without risking lives. But the NSF needed time to come up with a plan for how to safely demolish the telescope in a controlled manner.
https://www.space.com/arecibo-radio-telescope-collapses
#science #space
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Nutrients | Free Full-Text | Vitamin D Insufficiency May Account for Almost Nine of Ten COVID-19 Deaths: Time to Act. Comment on: “Vitamin D Deficiency and Outcome of COVID-19 Patients”. Nutrients 2020, 12, 2757 | HTML
Evidence from observational studies is accumulating, suggesting that the majority of deaths due to SARS-CoV-2 infections are statistically attributable to vitamin D insufficiency and could potentially be prevented by vitamin D supplementation. Given the dynamics of the COVID-19 pandemic, rational vitamin D supplementation whose safety has been proven in an extensive body of research should be promoted and initiated to limit the toll of the pandemic even before the final proof of efficacy in preventing COVID-19 deaths by randomized trials.
https://www.mdpi.com/2072-6643/12/12/3642/htm
#health
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Microsoft apologises for feature criticised as workplace surveillance | Microsoft | The Guardian
Microsoft has apologised for enabling a feature, “productivity score”, which critics said was tantamount to workplace surveillance.
The company says it will now make changes to the service, which lets IT administrators “help their people get the most” from its products, in order to limit the amount of information about individual employees that is shared with managers.
https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2020/dec/02/microsoft-apologises-productivity-score-critics-derided-workplace-surveillance
#privacy
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Teardown of “Dishy McFlatface,” the SpaceX Starlink user terminal | Ars Technica
https://arstechnica.com/information-technology/2020/12/teardown-of-dishy-mcflatface-the-spacex-starlink-user-terminal/
#hardware
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It’s Managers, Not Workers, Who Are Losing Jobs To AI And Robots, Study Shows
Managers, not lower-level employees, are seeing their ranks diminished with the onset of artificial intelligence and robots, a new study out of the University of Pennsylvania Wharton School finds. That’s because as AI and robotics expands within a business, managers can oversee a wider breadth of operations.
https://www.forbes.com/sites/joemckendrick/2020/11/15/its-managers-not-workers-who-are-losing-jobs-to-ai-and-robots-study-shows/
#career
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New Zealand 3D
https://felixpalmer.github.io/new-zealand-3d/
National Parks of New Zealand in 3D
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Archive, Historians, CREW Sue White House, Seek to Preserve Presidential Records During the Transition | National Security Archive
The National Security Archive, the Society for Historians of American Foreign Relations, the American Historical Association, and the Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington today filed suit against President Donald Trump in his official capacity, seeking to enforce the Presidential Records Act and prevent any destruction of records during the presidential transition.
The lawsuit cites the inadequacy of current White House policies that only require a screenshot of instant messages to be saved, preserving only the graphic content, when the law (as amended in 2014) requires "a complete copy" to be preserved, including digital links and attachments.
https://nsarchive.gwu.edu/briefing-book/foia/2020-12-01/archive-historians-crew-sue-white-house-seek-preserve-presidential-records-during-transition
#security #privacy #history #politics
