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Monthly Archives: February 2020

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Watch NASA Astronauts on SpaceX Crew Dragon Docking with ISS
by EditorDavid on 31/05/2020 at 2:11 pm
"We're less than 10 meters away..." "@AstroBehnken and @Astro_Doug are suited up, strapped in their seats and ready to be welcomed by the crew aboard the @Space_Station," NASA tweeted an hour ago. They're now just 135 meters away from the space station, and you can watch the docking live on YouTube. 1,024,406 people are already watching... "NASA astronauts Doug Hurley and Bob Behnken reported that the capsule was performing beautifully, as they closed in for the docking," reports the Associated Press. "The gleaming white capsule was easily visible from the station, its nose cone open exposing its docking hook, as the two spacecraft zoomed a few miles apart above the Atlantic, then Africa, then Asia." It's the first time a privately built and owned spacecraft is carrying crew to the orbiting lab. Hurley, the Dragon's commander, prepared to take manual control for a brief test, then shift the capsule into automatic for the linkup, 19 hours after liftoff. In case of a problem, the astronauts slipped back into their pressurized launch suits for the docking. The three space station residents trained cameras on the incoming capsule for flight controllers at SpaceX headquarters in Hawthorne, California, as well as NASA's Johnson Space Center in Houston. UPDATE: At 7:16 PST, soft capture was successfully completed. Read more of this story at Slashdot.
Waymo's Self-Driving Minivans Return to Phoenix, Detroit, Los Angeles, and the Bay Area
by EditorDavid on 31/05/2020 at 1:34 pm
Digital Trends reports: Waymo is planning to relaunch its fleet of self-driving minivans into Bay Area streets on June 8, according to an email acquired by The Verge. However, instead of transporting passengers, the vehicles will instead focus on delivering packages for non-profit organizations #DrawTogether, which gives art kits to children, and Lighthouse for the Blind and Visually Impaired... The pending return to the Bay Area follows Waymo's restart of its testing program in Phoenix, as lockdown restrictions were eased earlier this month... The autonomous vehicles will also soon also make their way back in Detroit and Los Angeles. The Verge argues that Waymo "is the latest autonomous vehicle operator to discover that doing deliveries allows it to sidestep restrictions that would otherwise require them to keep their autonomous vehicles off the road." Read more of this story at Slashdot.
Should Maintainers of Open Source Projects Be Paid?
by EditorDavid on 31/05/2020 at 10:34 am
Matt Asay, a former COO of Canonical now working at AWS, writes "Over the last few weeks I've interviewed a range of open source project maintainers, most of which don't directly get paid for supporting their projects... Is this a bad thing?" It's not completely clear. Linux Foundation executive Chris Aniszczyk has been an outspoken opponent of open source "tip jars" that seek to sustain projects with donations. "These [open source developers] should be encouraged to start businesses or your business should hire them directly," he argues. But many such developers don't want a 9-to-5 corporate job, preferring the independence of contract work. Open source sustainability, in other words, is messy. Most open source project maintainers with whom I've spoken got started because it was a "fun" way to spend their free time. They had a variety of personal "itches" they needed to scratch. Exactly none started coding because they were hoping to get paid for that work. In fact, in some cases, it was specifically to create space from their employer that they started the project. For Datasette founder Simon Willison, for example, he "wanted a creative outlet." That is, a project that he got to have complete control over. In some ways, he said, it was perhaps "a way of blowing off steam," but really it was a place where he could express his creativity without a corporate overlord steering that creativity. See the problem...? Aniszczyk reasonably suggests that the most sustainable source of funding is a paycheck, but that's precisely what many of these developers don't want. Or, at least, they don't want a paycheck that comes with restrictions on their ability to code freely... [O]pen source sustainability will never have one, meta answer for all of open source. It's always a project-by-project analysis and, really, a founder-by-founder (or community-by-community) decision. Read more of this story at Slashdot.
Microsoft Replaces Dozens of Staff With AI for News Stories on MSN
by EditorDavid on 31/05/2020 at 7:34 am
"Workforce automation is about to cost dozens of news contractors their jobs," writes Engadget: The Seattle Times and The Guardian report that Microsoft is letting go of dozens of news contractors (about 50 in the US, 27 in the UK) after June 30th due to a shift to AI news production on MSN. The workers were responsible for choosing, editing and curating stories. The work included identifying trending news stories, planning content, and rewriting headlines, according to the Seattle Times. "It's been semi-automated for a few months but now it's full speed ahead,'' one of the terminated contractors tells them. "It's demoralizing to think machines can replace us but there you go.'' Read more of this story at Slashdot.
What Would The Internet Look Like If America Repeals Section 230?
by EditorDavid on 31/05/2020 at 3:34 am
"REVOKE 230!" President Trump tweeted Friday, and NPR reports that the movement to revoke its safeguards "is increasingly becoming a bipartisan consensus... But experts caution that eliminating the legal protections may have unintended consequences for Internet users that extend far beyond Facebook and Twitter." "We don't think about things like Wikipedia, the Internet Archive and all these other public goods that exist and have a public-interest component that would not exist in a world without 230," said Aaron Mackey, staff attorney at the Electronic Frontier Foundation, a digital civil liberties nonprofit. Without Section 230, experts argue, sites would have less tolerance for people posting their opinions on YouTube, Reddit, Yelp, Amazon and many other corners of the Internet... The tech industry, unsurprisingly, is fighting hard to preserve Section 230, said Jeff Kosseff, the author of a book about Section 230, The Twenty-Six Words That Created the Internet. "The major platforms came into existence because of 230," Kosseff said. "Without 230, their operations would have to be substantially changed." In particular, Facebook, Twitter and Google would likely become aggressive about removing content and may side more often with complaining users, Kosseff said. Mackey with the Electronic Frontier Foundation agrees."It could create a prescreening of every piece of material every person posts and lead to an exceptional amount of moderation and prevention," Mackey said. "What every platform would be concerned about is: 'Do I risk anything to have this content posted to my site?'" Another possible ripple effect of repealing, Kosseff said, is making it more difficult for whatever company is hoping to emerge as the next big social media company. "It will be harder for them because they will face more liability at the outset," Kosseff said. Eric Goldman, a professor at Santa Clara University Law School and co-director of the High Tech Law Institute, said rescinding Section 230 could reduce the number of online platforms that welcome open dialogue. Read more of this story at Slashdot.
Apple Opens 100 More US Stores -- With Mandatory Temperature Checks For Customers
by EditorDavid on 31/05/2020 at 1:34 am
"Apple is in the process of reopening 100 U.S. retail stores," reports Apple Insider, adding "as expected, those outlets look a lot different post-coronavirus." For example, the company is performing temperature-checks at the door and requiring facial coverings before entering the store. Apple has also indicated that it will provide facial coverings to customers if need be. As you approach the Apple Store, you should notice some changes right away. In the Lynnhaven Mall in Virginia Beach, Virginia, the Apple Store had multiple employees outside to guide customers into lines — one line for walk-ups, and another for reservations. While waiting in line, an employee asks you a series of four questions and takes your temperature: - Do you currently have a fever? - Do you currently have a cough? - Are you currently experiencing any respiratory issues? - Have you been in contact with any suspected or confirmed cases of COVID-19 in the last 14 days? Answering "yes" to any question will prevent you from entering the store, even if wearing a mask. Answering "no" across the board will allow you to have your temperature checked. Apple assures customers that data isn't being recorded... Apple retail is enforcing social distancing measures by mandating six feet of space between customers, reducing the number of products on display, and rearranging store features to allow for more space between them... If a device is handed from customer to employee, the employee will wipe it down on receipt, before beginning service or operation of the device. There are multiple stations with disinfecting wipes and hand sanitizer... Customer occupancy and store hours have also been reduced, with Apple encouraging customers to purchase online or opt for curbside pickup when possible. Read more of this story at Slashdot.

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