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Submission Summary: 0 pending, 3 declined, 4 accepted (7 total, 57.14% accepted)

Submission + - ToolBook (older RAD/content authoring tool) is approaching its end-of-life (sumtotalsystems.com) 1

thegreatbob writes: The old RAD/content authoring system, ToolBook, appears to be entering the final phase of its EOL process. Sumtotal/Skillsoft (the current owner, under which meaningful development effectively ceased) "may" refuse software activations after the end of 2021, and does not provide a format-compatible replacement. Similarly, they are halting their support services, and will not allow contracts to be renewed.

This may have significant ramifications for the education/training sector, and I have reason to believe that the body of the work dependent on this software is significantly larger than one might expect out of a wayward VisualBasic competitor from the 90s.

The software, which was offered for sale until relatively recently (i'm unsure of the date of cutoff), has not received an update since 2014, nor a major version update since 2011. As such, I'd like to increase the visibility of this particular EOL, in the hopes that interested parties will take notice and have an opportunity to begin the process of moving their courseware out of this format.

Submission + - European regulators prepare for MAX to return to service in 2021 (theregister.com)

thegreatbob writes: Looks like the main additions over the FAA's requirements are some additional training requirements.

The actual EASA statement can be found here: https://ancillary-proxy.atarimworker.io?url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.easa.europa.eu%2Fnew...

Confirms what the available information had been pointing to: the plane flies tolerably without MCAS, but does not meet certification criteria.

Submission + - Gimp Turns 25 (theregister.com)

thegreatbob writes: It may be ugly, but it's free and works well enough... was mostly inspired to post this here as it has a remark from Rob Malda (CmdrTaco)

Submission + - Is password masking on its way out? 2

thegreatbob writes: Perhaps you've noticed in the last 5 years or so, progressively more entities have been providing the ability to reveal the contents of a password field. While this ability is, in many cases (especially on devices with lousy keyboards), legitimately useful, it does seem to be a reasonable source of concern.

Fast forward to today; I was setting up a new router (cheapest dual-band router money can, from Tenda), and I was almost horrified to discover that it does not mask any of its passwords by default. So I ask Slashdot:

Is password masking really on its way out, and does password masking do anything beyond preventing the casual shoulder-surfer?

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