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Submission Summary: 0 pending, 16 declined, 10 accepted (26 total, 38.46% accepted)

Submission + - Big tech warns of 'Japan's millennium bug' ahead of Akihito's abdication (theguardian.com)

Submitted by MightyMartian
MightyMartian writes: From the story:

"On 30 April 2019, Emperor Akihito of Japan is . The decision was announced in December 2017 so as to ensure an orderly transition to Akihito’s son, Naruhito, but the coronation could cause concerns in an unlikely place: the technology sector.

The Japanese calendar counts up from the coronation of a new emperor, using not the name of the emperor, but the name of the era they herald. Akihito’s coronation in January 1989 marked the beginning of the Heisei era, and the end of the Shwa era that preceded him; and Naruhito’s coronation will itself mark another new era."

Submission + - Canada's Next Governor General To Be Julie Payette, Former Astronaut (www.cbc.ca)

Submitted by MightyMartian
MightyMartian writes: From the story:

"Former astronaut Julie Payette will be the Queen's new representative in Canada, CBC News has confirmed.

The 53-year-old Montrealer, who speaks six languages, will be named the 29th governor general, a position that comes with a $290,660 annual salary and an official residence at Rideau Hall. ...

Payette, who is also an accomplished athlete, pianist and choral singer, will succeed outgoing Gov. Gen. David Johnston.

A computer engineer with a commercial pilot licence, Payette was picked from among 5,330 applicants in 1992 to be one of four new astronauts with the Canadian Space Agency (CSA).

She participated in two space flights to the International Space Station and served as the CSA's chief astronaut between 2000 and 2007."

I defy anyone else to find a head of state who is an astronaut!

Submission + - Homeopathy Turns Out To Be Useless For Treating Medical Conditions (ctvnews.ca)

Submitted by MightyMartian
MightyMartian writes: It should prove to be no surprise for most rational people, but a group of Australian researchers have determined that homeopathy is completely useless at treating medical conditions. Researchers sifted through 1,800 research papers on homeopathy and found no reliable report that showed homeopathic remedies had any better results than placebos.

Submission + - Moving Away From IT

Submitted by MightyMartian
MightyMartian writes: I've been working for an organization now for over seven years, my best run yet. A couple of years ago, the company went through some major changes and I bought in as an owner and as a managing director; my responsibilities encompassing administration, finance and IT. It's a small (20 employee or so, plus nearly that many with subcontracting companies) organization so needless to say I retained my direct IT responsibilities.

My fellow board members have decided that I need to detach myself from the day to day IT operations and take over more management duties; in particular in the finance and budgeting end of things. Right now I'm in the process of interviewing a new IT system administrator who will, over time, take on most of my IT roles. However, since this has been a one-man shop for seven years; namely my shop, I confess some reservations about handing over the keys and moving permanently up to the top floor.

Does anybody have any suggestions on the level of permissions for servers, networks and infrastructure I should start with? Do I, for the moment, retain some of the critical functionality; like superuser passwords, and slowly move the new system administrator into his or her role, or do I move more quickly, give him the basics and then let him fly on his own?

Submission + - NASA Wants To Go To Europa (cnet.com)

Submitted by MightyMartian
MightyMartian writes: From the story:

"NASA and the White House are asking Congress to bankroll a new intrastellar road trip to a destination that's sort of like the extraterrestrial Atlantis of our solar system — Jupiter's intriguing moon, Europa."

Since Europa seems one of the most likely worlds in the Solar System other than Earth where we have some hope of finding extant life, let's hope Congress gives the green light to this project.

Submission + - iPads banned from UK Cabinet meetings over surveillance fears (telegraph.co.uk) 1

Submitted by MightyMartian
MightyMartian writes: British securities services fear foreign intelligence agencies have developed the ability to turn mobile devices such as phones and tablets into bugs without the owner’s knowledge, allowing them to eavesdrop on confidential meetings.

According to the article, UK security services fear China, Russia and Pakistway have figured out a way to turn mobiles into microphones, and have them transmit even when they're off. Ministers in sensitive government departments have been issued with soundproof lead-lined boxes, which they must place their mobiles in when having sensitive conversations.
NASA

Submission + - Saturn's largest moon undergoes crater makeover (www.cbc.ca)

Submitted by MightyMartian
MightyMartian writes: NASA scientists say Cassini has discovered that far fewer craters on Titan than on the other moons of Saturn. The craters they have discovered are far shallower than other moons' craters and appear to be filling with hydrocarbon sand. On top of being yet another reason Titan's active geology is very cool, it adds to the mystery of where all the methane on Titan is coming from.
Crime

Submission + - Teen Suicide Tormenter Outed By Anonymous (www.cbc.ca)

Submitted by MightyMartian
MightyMartian writes: From the story:

The tragic story of a Canadian teen suicide victim Amanda Todd has taken another bizarre twist as the internet hacking and activist group Anonymous has named a man the group says was the girl's primary tormentor. Todd, 15, of Port Coquitlam, British Columbia, died last Wednesday, a month after posting a haunting video on YouTube that cited the sexualized attack that set her down a path of anxiety, depression and drug and alcohol abuse.

This raises a whole nest of issues surrounding the presumption of innocence and vigilantism. Should the police and the courts be given the appropriate amount of time to determine if there is sufficient evidence, or if a crime has in fact been committed, or is Anonymous right in short-circuiting what might in fact be a lengthy process with no guarantee that anyone will face charges?

Encryption

Submission + - Data Remanence Solutions 3

Submitted by MightyMartian
MightyMartian writes: The company I work for has just had their government contract renewed, which is good news, giving me several more years of near-guaranteed employment!

However, in going through all the schedules and supplementary documents related to the old contract, which we will begin winding down next spring, we've discovered some pretty stiff data remanence requirements that, for hard drives at least, boil down to "they must be sent to an appropriately recognized facility for destruction."

Now keep in mind that we are the same organization that has been delivering this contract all along, so the equipment isn't going anywhere. What's more, destruction of hard drives means we have to buy new ones, which is going to cost us a lot of money, particular with prices being so high.

I've looked at using encryption as a means of destroying data, in that if you encrypt a drive or a set of files with an appropriately long and complex key, and then destroy all copies of that key, that data effectively is destroyed. I'd like to write up a report to submit to our government contract managers, and would be interested if any Slashdotters have experience with this, or have any references or citations to academic or industry papers on dealing with data remanence without destroying physical media.
Advertising

Submission + - Microsoft Has Lost $5.5 Billion On Bing Since 2009

Submitted by MightyMartian
MightyMartian writes: According to CNN Money, Microsoft has lost $5.5 billion on Bing since its launch in 2009. But it gets even better. If you include Microsoft's other online offerings, all the way back to 2007, the losses are somewhere in the neighborhood of $9 billion.

But not to worry, analysts expect Bing to become profitable in "three to four years".

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