Comment It happens (Score 4, Interesting) 56
A coworker of mine once absentmindedly blew away a critical database table at a large east coast hospital as I sat one desk over. It was then that the hospital found out their backups were broken.
Comment BREAKING: Working for a soulless corporation sucks (Score 1) 166
News at 11
Comment Re:Oh goodie! AI and technical debt all in one! (Score 1) 76
Older languages have a lower innovation velocity than newer, more popular languages.. They are reliant on a handful (often, one) of companies to keep up with new technology and new approaches.
I'm not just some punk techbro saying this: I have a lower user # than you.
Submission + - 50+ House Democrats demand answers after whistleblower report on DOGE (npr.org) 2
echo123 writes: Over fifty Democratic lawmakers have signed a letter demanding answers from senior U.S. government officials about a recent potential exposure of sensitive data about American workers.
The letter is addressed to the acting General Counsel of the National Labor Relations Board, William Cowen. The independent agency is in charge of investigating and adjudicating complaints about unfair labor practices and protecting U.S. workers' rights to form unions.
The lawmakers, who are part of the Congressional Labor Caucus, wrote the letter in light of news first reported by NPR, that a whistleblower inside the IT Department of the NLRB says DOGE may have removed sensitive labor data and exposed NLRB systems to being compromised.
"These revelations from the whistleblower report are highly concerning for a number of reasons," the lawmakers wrote in the letter to Cowen. "If true, these revelations describe a reckless approach to the handling of sensitive personal information of workers, which could leave these workers exposed to retaliation for engaging in legally protected union activity."
The letter refers to an official whistleblower disclosure made by Daniel Berulis, a cloud administrator in the IT department of the NLRB, who also spoke to NPR in multiple interviews.
In his disclosure, Berulis shared that he initially became concerned in March when members of President Donald Trump's Department of Government Efficiency initiative arrived at the agency and demanded high-level access to the systems without their activities being logged. Those fears escalated after he tracked a large chunk of data leaving the agency at the same time as many security controls and auditing tools were turned off, the disclosure continues.
Ultimately, Berulis became concerned that DOGE, which is effectively led by Trump adviser and billionaire CEO Elon Musk, could have accessed sensitive internal information about ongoing investigations into U.S. companies, witness affidavits and even corporate secrets. The alleged insecure practices and removal of data could also create vulnerabilities for criminal hackers or foreign adversaries to exploit, Berulis explained in his official disclosure.
The letter is addressed to the acting General Counsel of the National Labor Relations Board, William Cowen. The independent agency is in charge of investigating and adjudicating complaints about unfair labor practices and protecting U.S. workers' rights to form unions.
The lawmakers, who are part of the Congressional Labor Caucus, wrote the letter in light of news first reported by NPR, that a whistleblower inside the IT Department of the NLRB says DOGE may have removed sensitive labor data and exposed NLRB systems to being compromised.
"These revelations from the whistleblower report are highly concerning for a number of reasons," the lawmakers wrote in the letter to Cowen. "If true, these revelations describe a reckless approach to the handling of sensitive personal information of workers, which could leave these workers exposed to retaliation for engaging in legally protected union activity."
The letter refers to an official whistleblower disclosure made by Daniel Berulis, a cloud administrator in the IT department of the NLRB, who also spoke to NPR in multiple interviews.
In his disclosure, Berulis shared that he initially became concerned in March when members of President Donald Trump's Department of Government Efficiency initiative arrived at the agency and demanded high-level access to the systems without their activities being logged. Those fears escalated after he tracked a large chunk of data leaving the agency at the same time as many security controls and auditing tools were turned off, the disclosure continues.
Ultimately, Berulis became concerned that DOGE, which is effectively led by Trump adviser and billionaire CEO Elon Musk, could have accessed sensitive internal information about ongoing investigations into U.S. companies, witness affidavits and even corporate secrets. The alleged insecure practices and removal of data could also create vulnerabilities for criminal hackers or foreign adversaries to exploit, Berulis explained in his official disclosure.
Submission + - Hackers can now bypass Linux security thanks to terrifying new Curing rootkit (betanews.com)
BrianFagioli writes: ARMO, the company behind Kubescape, has uncovered what could be one of the biggest blind spots in Linux security today. The company has released a working rootkit called âoeCuringâ that uses io_uring, a feature built into the Linux kernel, to stealthily perform malicious activities without being caught by many of the detection solutions currently on the market.
At the heart of the issue is the heavy reliance on monitoring system calls, which has become the go-to method for many cybersecurity vendors. The problem? Attackers can completely sidestep these monitored calls by leaning on io_uring instead. This clever method could let bad actors quietly make network connections or tamper with files without triggering the usual alarms.
At the heart of the issue is the heavy reliance on monitoring system calls, which has become the go-to method for many cybersecurity vendors. The problem? Attackers can completely sidestep these monitored calls by leaning on io_uring instead. This clever method could let bad actors quietly make network connections or tamper with files without triggering the usual alarms.
Submission + - Tariffs May Finally Make Recycling Rare Earth Elements Pay Off (networkworld.com)
itwbennett writes: Computerworld reports that Western Digital and Microsoft are testing ways to recover precious materials from old servers. “A new advanced sorting ecosystem with an eco-friendly non-acid process not only recaptures essential rare earth elements but also extracts metals like gold, copper, aluminum, and steel, feeding them back into the US supply chain,” Western Digital said in a statement. This part isn't new. What's new is the math. Thanks to Trump's tariff war and 'moves by China to halt the export of bismuth, which might hold the key to future faster and more efficient semiconductors,' the few dollars' worth of materials in one server might be enough ROI to make it worthwhile. Gartner analyst Autumn Stanish is positive about the Western Digital news, but advises caution. 'This seems, based on the public information, far from the volume and scale to achieve the independence and carbon savings potential presented,' she said.
Submission + - Censorship and fraud driving creators away from YouTube 1
NewtonsLaw writes: When YouTuber Bruce Simpson received notification of a community guidelines infringement on his xjet YouTube channel he wasn't happy. YouTube alleges that one of his videos constitutes "hate speech" and even after review, the platform stands by its allegations.
What was the video that risks inciting hate and violence to such an extent that it needed to be removed, even after "appeal"?
Well it wasn't anything political, ideological or even violent. It was a two minute video of a radio controlled model aircraft flying in the skies at his local airfield in Tokoroa, New Zealand.
Incensed by this baseless allegation, Simpson posted this video to YouTube and within a few hours it had already gathered tens of thousands of views and over a thousand comments. Those comments make for great reading and show just how "out of touch" YouTube has become with its target audience and its creators.
The hypocrisy is also highlighted, as Simpson points out just how YouTube is prepared to overlook or even support frauds being perpetrated on its audience by way of scam advertisements that continue to play weeks or even months after they've been reported by countless people, many of who have become victims of the scams.
Has YouTube lost its way? Has it forgotten its roots? Are many creators now turning to self-hosting in reaction to ridiculous levels of censorship?
Or do we have a reverse adpocalypse — where content creators are shunning YouTube because they do not want their content being run alongside fraudulent scammy ads placed by YouTube?
What was the video that risks inciting hate and violence to such an extent that it needed to be removed, even after "appeal"?
Well it wasn't anything political, ideological or even violent. It was a two minute video of a radio controlled model aircraft flying in the skies at his local airfield in Tokoroa, New Zealand.
Incensed by this baseless allegation, Simpson posted this video to YouTube and within a few hours it had already gathered tens of thousands of views and over a thousand comments. Those comments make for great reading and show just how "out of touch" YouTube has become with its target audience and its creators.
The hypocrisy is also highlighted, as Simpson points out just how YouTube is prepared to overlook or even support frauds being perpetrated on its audience by way of scam advertisements that continue to play weeks or even months after they've been reported by countless people, many of who have become victims of the scams.
Has YouTube lost its way? Has it forgotten its roots? Are many creators now turning to self-hosting in reaction to ridiculous levels of censorship?
Or do we have a reverse adpocalypse — where content creators are shunning YouTube because they do not want their content being run alongside fraudulent scammy ads placed by YouTube?
Submission + - The 'return' of an extinct wolf is not the answer to saving endangered species (sun-sentinel.com)
walterbyrd writes: Naomi Louchouarn, program director of wildlife partnerships at Humane World for Animals and an expert on human-wildlife coexistence, had a gut reaction to the dire wolf news: “This is going to be a problem for gray wolves,” she recalls thinking. “It almost immediately undermined our ability to protect species.”
Comment Hardly a bee so far (Score 4, Interesting) 88
Flowers have been in bloom here (north of Seattle) for three weeks now, and I've so far only seen two bees.
I'll know we're in real trouble if I don't see bees swarming the cotoneasters later this year.
Submission + - Heavy metals found in US tooth paste (theguardian.com) 2
Bruce66423 writes: As ever the question that should be asked is: 'What level is worth worrying about and why?'
Comment Re: Tech isn't immune (Score 1) 141
I don't worry too much about SS, but i do worry about the collapse of the economy. If the US dollar goes south, we're all in for it.
Comment Re:That's it, I'm getting a job in a coal mine (Score 2) 141
My eldest son is an oysterman. As long as his health holds up, he'll be okay. Pays well, but the hours are tidal.
Comment Re:Tech isn't immune (Score 1) 141
I'm glad I retired when I did, at 61. I had bleeding-edge skills at the time, but I was OLD and not near as cute as I once was.
And, frankly, programming was getting a little bit harder each year, to the point it wasn't much fun anymore. I still do it, and contribute to open source, but I am grateful I don't have a deadline hanging over my head (I'm a very lax self-employer, and my wife appreciates it).
My point is that I feel I got out just in time. I have all I need and my kids are all doing fine. Very lucky man, here.
Comment Who benefits from 90-hour workweeks (Score 1) 134
Is it the employee? Their wife & children? Their health?
You can trade your time for money to own things, but it will be of small comfort when you're old.
Comment Re: We need both! (Score 2) 196
I own a Honda Clarity PHEV. It gets 35-45 miles per charge. Currently reading 200mpg, because I don't have long commutes and an overnight charge (about a buck-seventy here) is sufficient, and if not, I can switch to hybrid mode.
Not for everyone or for every case, but I did my research and it worked out.
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