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Links 5/4/2017: Open Networking Summit 2017, GNOME Twitch 0.4.0, Fedora 26 Alpha
Weaveworks Advances Container Services Platform in Enterprise Edition
Alexis Richardson is a big advocate of the emerging cloud native computing paradigm, serving as the chair of the Technical Oversight Committee (TOC) at the Cloud Native Computing Foundation (CNCF). At his day job, he is the CEO and co-founder of Weaveworks, which is aiming to build a cloud native business, providing organizations with a platform to monitor and manage cloud native deployments.
Sprint joins CORD Project focused on SDN, NFV, cloud
Sprint and DT join AT&T, Verizon and China Unicom at CORD Project
CORD Announces New Collaborators
ONF/ON.Lab Combo Showcases SDN Innovation
ONOS Project Announces New Release
Sprint Joins ONF's CORD Project Signaling Open Source Interest
Open Source Boom Not Without Challenges
Open Networking Summit — The booming interest in software-defined networking and open source is driving this event, but two of its biggest backers today warned an opening keynote audience that change is needed if open networking is going to succeed commercially.
Jim Zemlin, executive director of the Linux Foundation, which sponsors ONS, and event founder Guru Parulkar, now executive director of the Open Networking Foundation, both called for fundamental change specifically impacting investment and the need to harmonize projects to be more efficient.
The Sad Case Of The Linux Foundation [Ed: Today, the Linux Foundation promotes the anti-GPL Microsoft proxy Black Duck. For the uninitiated, Black Duck is paying the Linux Foundation while going against the GPL, the licence of Linux]
Once upon a time, TLF had a Desktop User's Group… No more.
Mini TTY In Development For The Linux Kernel
Linaro and other ARM/embedded developers continue working on minitty, a minimal TTY implementation for the Linux kernel that's targeting embedded systems.
The mini TTY implementation is designed for systems not needing the full TTY layer. The minitty code only supports serial port outputs with no VTs or PTYs, no job control support, no hung-up state, and various other features have been stripped out. The motivation for this is reducing the size of the kernel and dynamic memory requirements when using Linux on embedded systems. Beyond that, "the existing TTY code is quite large and complex", per Linaro's Nicolas Pitre.
Complaining about the kingdom of kernel
Jonathan Corbet of LWN gave a keynote at Linaro Connect about The kernel's limits to growth. The general summary was that the kernel had scaling problems in the late 90′s (A single "B"DFL does not scale) but the developers figured out a method that was more sustainable. There's a growing concern that we're about to hit another scaling problems with insufficient maintainers. Solving this has gotten some attention of late. I have a lot of thoughts about maintainership and growing in the kernel (many of which can be summarized as "well nobody has told me to stop yet") but this is not that blog post. The talk mentioned that kernel development can be described as "A bunch of little feifdoms". This is a superb metaphor for so many things in Linux kernel land.
OPNFV issues its fourth release, Danube
OPNFV's Danube Dubbed 'Milestone' Release
OPNFV, the Open Source Project for Integrated Testing of Full, Next-Generation Networking Stack, Issues its Fourth Release
OPNFV unveils Danube release to bolster open source NFV adoption
OPNFV said its fourth platform release brings development and operations methodologies to the NFV space, and is a "turning point" for organization.
The Linux Foundation's Open Platform for NFV project launched its fourth platform release, dubbed "Danube," which the organization said provides key architectural components and improvements designed to foster the adoption of network functions virtualization systems.
OPNFV said the platform, which was released at this week's Open Networking Summit, brings development and operations methodologies to the NFV space through "collaborative upstream development, integration, deployment and significant continuous integration/continuous development testing automation."
AT&T and Intel-led DPDK Project moves to Linux Foundation, sets focus on open-source growth
Open Networking Summit expands collaboration around SDN and NFV
Networking Leaders Team Up to Drive Open Source DPDK Project
AT&T engineers flip switch on multisupplier open source white box
Specifically, on March 28, AT&T engineers completed what they believe to be a first in the telecom industry: live field trials of a multisupplier open source white box switch carrying customer traffic. "What this means is we used a common, uniform open network operating system across multiple merchant silicon chips to build a piece of network equipment that met our stringent real-world data needs," the operator explained in a press release.
Watch live: As software eats the world, IT networking responds from the Open Networking Summit 2017
VIP Event: Introducing ONAP with Cloudify and the Linux Foundation during Open Networking Summit
AT&T Gives White Box Switches a Chance
AT&T Picks Barefoot Networks for Programmable Switches
AT&T trials open switches for better future services
Open-source SDN is sending change waves through network standards bodies, says Cisco
Intel, 5G and open source pave the way to networking's future
AT&T, others spill trade secrets in open-source network project ONAP
Jio Creating Global Centers of Excellence To Drive Innovation Around SDN/NFV
Intel's Data Plane Development Kit Now a Linux Foundation Project
New ONOS release helps automate network configuration
Vulkan's VK_KHR_incremental_present Now Supported By Mesa's ANV/RADV Drivers
X.Org Server 1.19 Finally Lands in Ubuntu 17.04 (Zesty Zapus) for Better Gaming
After a long wait, it finally happened, Canonical pushed today the latest X.Org Server 1.19 display server to the main repositories of the upcoming Ubuntu 17.04 (Zesty Zapus) operating system.
In mid-March, Canonical's Timo Aaltonen announced the availability of the X.Org Server 1.19.2 packages in the proposed repositories of Ubuntu 17.04, along with the Mesa 17.0 3D Graphics Library. It took about a month of testing, but the X.Org Server packages were finally upgraded from the old 1.18.4 release to version 1.19.3.
OpenGL vs Vulkan in Mad Max, re-tested
Since Feral Interactive have fixed up the OpenGL renderer in the Mad Max [Steam] Beta, here are some fresh OpenGL vs Vulkan tests.
I already cleared up the issue before and included some manual testing, see here.
These new tests are re-done using their benchmark feature, which is unique to the Linux version. This should now give a much more accurate look at how OpenGL fares against Vulkan in some heavy areas of the game.
The EU Is Funding Work Into Low-Power GPU Tech
LPGPU is a new research initiative funded by the European Union to explore low-power GPU technologies.
When first hearing of "LPGPU" from a Phoronix reader I figured it was another project like the failed Project VGA and other incomplete efforts around having an open-source GPU design. But this LPGPU effort is backed by the EU and has the involvement of some notable members for their research into low-power GPU tech and isn't about delivering a new GPU itself. LPGPU appears to be largely focused on software advancements for bettering today's low-power GPU hardware.
CPUFreq vs. P-State CPU Scaling Governor Tests On Various Vulkan/OpenGL Games
With the recent release of some new Linux games like the Serious Sam 2017 update and Max Max, also with featuring Vulkan renderers, here are some fresh Intel P-State vs. ACPI CPUFreq frequency scaling driver and governor comparisons with a variety of Linux games.
Particularly on the P-State side, our CPU scaling driver tests over the years have showed the potential for big swings in performance depending upon the governor/driver, but in other games there are minimal differences. The Intel CPU generation can also play a role with sometimes the newer Intel hardware having a tougher time performing well with the Intel P-State powersave mode that's commonly the default on many Linux distributions.
Tethered Shooting with a Digital Camera on Ubuntu with Entangle
If you want to control your digital camera or DSLR from Ubuntu check out Entangle, an open-source app that lets you tether your camera to a Linux PC over USB.
Krita – An Excellent Professional Painting Tool for Linux
Krita is an Open Source sketching and painting app designed professional content creators and can thus, be used efficiently for creating concept designs, illustrations, matte and textured paintings, among other professional forms of artistry.
Introduction and Elisa Music Player
Hello Planet KDE, I am Matthieu Gallien. I am a software developer mainly working with C++ and PHP. I am passionate about free software in general and KDE in particular.
A New KDE Music Player: Elisa
While Amarok has not seen a release in years and Juk development not being too vibrant, now there's another new KDE music player option: Elisa.
Developer Matthieu Gallien announced the Elisa Music Player today as a new initiative. Elisa makes use of KDE Frameworks 5, uses Baloo for indexing of music, the Qt5 tool-kit is obviously used, and the KDE VDG has chipped in with their design ideas on this still young music player.
Mosh (Mobile Shell) – Best Alternative for SSH to Connect Remote System
SSH is one of the best option to connect remote Linux systems. It's very famous and widely used application. We have wrote many articles about SSH and it's security, just hit the link to know more about it.
Lightworks 14.0 Professional Video Editor Released with More Than 400 Changes
EditShare was proud to announce today, April 4, 2017, the general availability of the final release of the Lightworks 14.0.0 professional video editor for GNU/Linux, macOS, and Microsoft Windows operating systems.
Lightworks 14.0 is a massive release of the multi-platform video editing system, and most probably highly anticipated by many of you out there. There are over 430 changes incorporated in this major update, including around 70 new features and hundreds of bug fixes, some of which are platform specific.
How To Save Traffic With nginx's HttpGzipModule on Debian Jessie
How to Install Odoo 10 on an Ubuntu 16.04 VPS
How to Set Up an Automatic Backup System on Linux with Dropbox
Flat File Encryption with OpenSSL and GPG
How to use grep to search for strings in files on the shell
Builder pattern vs. Multi-stage builds in Docker
Trivial Transfers with TFTP, Part 2: Configuration
ABRT catched problems reporting to Kubernetes
How To Install Ruby on Rails in Ubuntu 16.04
Hey, everyone. Today we will be setting up "ruby on rails" in one of the latest versions of ubuntu i.e. 16.04. We will go for rvm (Ruby Version Manager) which will let you manage work and switch between multiple ruby environments. I will provide screenshots and pictures (wherever I can) and the steps without hectic, so you guys can easily setup up and start app development quickly. Let us start.
SDL Updates Game Controller Support With Nintendo Switch Pro & More
Sam Lantinga updated SDL tonight with support for several more game controllers. The most notable perhaps is the Nintendo Switch Pro controller now being handled by mainline SDL, the library that's widely-used by a majority of Linux games.
In addition to supporting the Nintendo Switch Pro controller, other new additions to SDL's controller database include the Revolution Pro Controller, Saitek P2500 Rumble Pad, Razer RAIJU, Xbox 360 Wired Controller, and others.
GNOME Twitch 0.4.0 Released With Various Improvements
A new version of GNOME Twitch, an open-source Twitch.tv player for the Linux desktop, is available with various improvements in tow.
GNOME Twitch releases a major update with notifications, offline channel searching and more
GNOME Twitch [github, Official Site] recently released a major new version of their open source desktop Twitch client and it's a beauty.
The new version includes: Notifications of when people you follow go live, Language selection in the menu to filter livestreams, chat badges, viewer count for games and more. See the changelog here.
To grab it on Arch you need this package along with one of the players to actually view videos (listed on the page). For Ubuntu you can use this PPA. There's also a FlatPak, if that's your thing.
GNOME Twitch 0.4.0 Includes Improved Chat, Re-Enabled Notifications, More
GNOME Twitch is an application to watch Twitch streams on your desktop, without using Flash or a web browser. It requires GTK 3.20 or newer so it only works in fairly new Linux distributions, e.g. Ubuntu 16.10 and newer.
Trying Out Xonotic 0.8.2 With Radeon & NVIDIA GPUs On Linux
With Xonotic 0.8.2 having been released this past weekend and was the first update to this open-source game in more than one year, I was curious to put it through its benchmark paces.
The Xonotic 0.8.2 release focused on mostly game-play changes and assets rather than any big engine overhauls, but still makes for an interesting test case.
Feral have now fixed the OpenGL performance regression in Mad Max
The OpenGL performance regression that made Vulkan look like it annihilated OpenGL in Mad Max's recent Beta has now been fixed.
Serious Sam VR: The Second Encounter Launches On Steam
Croteam has done the full release of Serious Sam VR: The Second Encounter on Steam today, just days after SSVR: The First Encounter left early access.
This sequel to SSVR: TFE is now available and also on sale for 25% off, taking its sale price to $30 USD. Serious Sam VR: The Second Encounter has Fusion 2017 integration meaning it was ported to Vulkan, 64-bit, and the other changes, including Linux support. At the moment it's not being listed as Linux supported on Steam, but should be shortly or working if not already after installing the Serious Sam Fusion 2017 beta.
Serious Sam VR: The First Encounter & Serious Sam VR: The Second Encounter released in full
Road Redemption has released the big update for Linux gamers, it's actually pretty good
The Road Redemption [Steam, Official Site] developers have now updated the Linux build of their combat racer and I've spent a little time testing it. It actually works pretty nicely now!
Performance wise on max settings it's been running very smoothly. I'm not surprised though, considering visually it doesn't look like it's doing a great deal to push the GPU side.
Hellpoint, a dark sci-fi action RPG adds Linux support to their tech demo
While I shy away from a lot of Kickstarters, Cradle Games are doing it right. They spoke to the community and posted on reddit to get feedback. Getting a Linux build out ASAP for testing shows commitment to me. Not just that, but it shows they are capable of getting a Linux version of their game running. They seem very responsive to feedback too, which is encouraging.
Red Hat SDS business to become less direct
Red Hat is looking to grow the amount of storage business that goes through its channel, Channelnomics heard during the Red Hat North American Partner Conference in Las Vegas, NV last week.
In an interview with Channelnomics during the event, Sarangan Rangachari, VP of Red Hat's strategic business unit, said that while the vendor doesn't share how much of its storage business goes through the channel, business in this space has been "predominantly" direct so far and the vendor is looking to develop alternative routes to market.
Version 5 of RHEL, CentOS and Scientific Linux are now dead
New CloudLinux 7 Kernel Security Update Fixes Out-of-Bounds Heap Access in XFRM
CloudLinux's Mykola Naugolnyi announced today, April 4, 2017, the general availability of an updated kernel package for the CloudLinux 7 and CloudLinux 6 Hybrid operating system series.
The new CloudLinux 7 kernel (version 3.10.0-427.36.1.lve1.4.44) is here to fix the CVE-2017-7184 security vulnerability discovered and patched in Red Hat Enterprise Linux 7 operating systems, which Red Hat marked as important and described as an out-of-bounds heap access in the XFRM framework.
MKM Partners Reaffirms "Neutral" Rating for Red Hat Inc (RHT)
Red Hat, Inc. (RHT) Has Revealed It All In Its Chart
Risk Malaise Alert in Option Market: Red Hat Inc Implied Price Swing Hits A Weakened Level
Anaconda BlivetGUI Test Day: 2017-04-06
Fedora 26 Alpha available now
The Fedora Project is pleased to announce the immediate availability of Fedora 26 Alpha. The Alpha release is an important milestone towards the Fedora 26 release later this year.
You can download the Alpha versions of Fedora 26 Workstation and Fedora 26 Server from the pre-release pages of the Get Fedora website. Pre-release versions of the Fedora Spins, Fedora Labs, and Fedora for ARM are also available.
Fedora 26 Alpha Released
Fedora Diversity FAD 2017
At Fedora, we are committed to promoting diversity and inclusion in the community. With this in mind, the Fedora Diversity Team together with the Diversity Advisor work on planning and implementation of diversity and inclusion(D&I) efforts such as the enforcement of the code of conduct, highlighting the diverse community in Fedora and offering workshops and fostering communication between Fedora sub-projects. I am lucky to have been a part of this team since some time now. Big thanks to Amita Sharma who invited me to join the Diversity team.
Fedora 26 Alpha Released With New Features — Download ISO File Here
Fedora 26 Alpha Linux distribution with GNOME 3.24 now available for download
Fedora 25 Gets Another Set of Updated Live ISOs, Now with Linux Kernel 4.10.6
Ben Williams, a Fedora Ambassador and founder of the Fedora Unity Project, announced the release of yet another set of updated Live ISO images for the Fedora 25 operating system series.
Dubbed as Fedora 25 20170331 Lives, the new ISO snapshots are powered by the Linux 4.10.6 kernel and ship with all the latest security and software updates released on the official repositories of the operating system during the entire month of March 2017, since the release of the Fedora 25 20170228 Lives.
Fedora 26 Alpha Arrives with DNF 2.0, GNOME 3.24, GCC 7, and Linux Kernel 4.11
Fedora Project's Ryan Lerch announced today, April 4, 2017, the release and immediate availability for download of the Alpha milestone of the upcoming Fedora 26 Linux operating system.
After being delayed three times, Fedora 26 Alpha is finally here to let early adopters get a taste of what's coming in the final release of the GNU/Linux distribution. It's the first big step in the development cycle of the upcoming release, and it shows the progress made so far by the Fedora developers.
On Tanglu
It's time for a long-overdue blogpost about the status of Tanglu. Tanglu is a Debian derivative, started in early 2013 when the systemd debate at Debian was still hot. It was formed by a few people wanting to create a Debian derivative for workstations with a time-based release schedule using and showcasing new technologies (which include systemd, but also bundling systems and other things) and built in the open with a community using the similar infrastructure to Debian. Tanglu is designed explicitly to complement Debian and not to compete with it on all devices.
Is Ubuntu 17.10 Named 'Acrobatic Aardvark'?
Has the Ubuntu 17.10 been accidentally revealed?
Maybe — but also-very-much-possibly-maybe-not.
But before we speculate any further I need you to go to your kitchen to grab some salt (a large pinch should do fine).
Why is Ubuntu Linux so popular?
Canonical Releases Snapd 2.23.6 Snappy Daemon for Ubuntu 16.10, 16.04, and 14.04
Canonical's Jamie Bennett announced today the availability of a new maintenance update for the major Snapd 2.23 release of the Snappy daemon implementation for Ubuntu Linux.
Snapd 2.23.6 is now the latest stable version of the daemon, available for all supported Ubuntu releases. It brings robustness improvements to the configuration hook system by implementing a 5-minute timeout for the configure hook, along with the ability to report any failure.
Dell Launches World's Most Powerful 15″ and 17″ Laptops Powered by Ubuntu Linux
After announcing earlier this year the release of the Dell Precision 5520 mobile workstation as the world's thinnest and lightest 15" notebook powered by Ubuntu, Dell launches two new models for fans of the Linux-based operating system.
Originally scheduled to arrive during the month of March 2017, the Dell Precision 7520 and Dell Precision 7720 models are finally available for purchase, and Dell dubs them as the world's most powerful 15-inch mobile workstations preloaded with the Ubuntu 16.04 LTS (Xenial Xerus) operating system.
Why is Ubuntu Popular? End Users Share their Opinion
Do you think Ubuntu is the most popular Linux based desktop distribution available today? Or maybe not?
New Black Lab Linux Weekly ISO Improves AMD Ryzen and Microsoft Surface Support
Black Lab Software CEO Roberto J. Dohnert has informed Softpedia today, April 4, 2017, about the immediate availability of a new weekly ISO snapshot of the Black Lab Linux operating system.
Black Lab Linux Weekly 256 is out now, available for download from the official announcement, and it's the first to become the base for the next major release of the Ubuntu-based distro, namely Black Lab Linux 9, whose development cycle also starts today, along with the Feature Freeze stage.
Tiny IoT-oriented COM gains faster clock and i.MX6 ULL option
Variscite launched a faster, 696MHz v1.2 spin of its 50 x 25mm DART-6UL COM, and an option for the power-efficient i.MX6 ULL in addition to the UL SoC.
Variscite has added an option for NXP's new, more power-efficient i.MX6 ULL SoC to a newly revised, v1.2 version of its i.MX6 UL (UltraLite) based DART-6UL computer-on-module. The company has also boosted the i.MX6 UL v1.2's Cortex-A7 clock rate to 696MHz, compared to the earlier 528MHz, and has lowered the overall price to as little as $24 in volume, down from $27. The price and clock rate also appear to apply to the new ULL version.
Samsung Tizen Is Riddled With Zero-Day Flaws, According To An Israeli Cyber Security Researcher
Samsung's Tizen Android replacement riddled with security holes, claim researchers
Tizen said to be riddled with vulnerabilities
Samsung's Tizen OS is a hacker's dream, security researcher exposes 40 unknown vulnerabilities
Security expert: Samsung's Tizen operating system is a hacker's dream
'The worst code I have ever seen': Vulnerable Samsung Tizen phone and TV software exposed
Report: Samsung's Android replacement rife with security flaws
Security Researcher Finds 40 Zero-Day Vulnerabilities in Samsung's Tizen OS
Samsung's Tizen OS Apparently Has Some Security Holes
Samsung's Version Of Tizen May Be Massively Insecure
Samsung Tizen has 40 zero-day vulnerabilities, researcher warns
Samsung's Tizen OS Said to Be Riddled With as Many as 40 Zero-Day Vulnerabilities
Samsung Smart TVs, Watches Full of Security Holes (Report)
Samsung's Tizen OS may be overrun with security flaws
Samsung's Android alternative is a security disaster, says researcher
Security researcher finds Samsung's Tizen, used in its Smart TVs, is full of security issues
Samsung's TV and watch OS is reportedly full of security holes
Linux-based Tizen: Critical bugs leave most Samsung Smart TVs open to attack
Samsung's Tizen is riddled with security flaws, amateurishly written [Ed: When Microsoft Peter covers anything Linux it's basically Linux bashing… "amateurishly written"]
Samsung's Tizen OS Riddled With Security Holes
Phones with 'foldable' AMOLED displays may not debut until 2019
The Pros and Cons of an Android-Powered World
This year, Android is donning the crown of the world's No. 1 operating system, both in terms of the number of devices that use it and the revenue its ecosystem generates. As an Android user, I don't really mind — but there are ominous aspects to its growing dominance and a possibility that better technology may not get the recognition it deserves.
Android overtakes Windows to become the internet's most popular OS
Android now the biggest OS on the most devices in the world
Twitter for Android testing automatic night mode based on sunrise/set
Android 7.1.2 leaves beta, arrives on Pixel and Nexus devices
Android Security Bulletin—April 2017
Waze is finally coming to Android Auto as beta invites start going out
How to download YouTube to Android
Pinterest Tells Android Users to Take a Shortcut
Android 7.1.2 Nougat Update Now Rolling Out to Nexus and Pixel Devices; Brings Fixes for Numerous Issues
Waze for Android Auto is finally on its way as beta testing prepares to kick off
Automation is Becoming a Necessity, is Puppet the Only Answer?
A microcosm of today's world includes building cars via robots, self driving vehicles, etc. No matter the task, it appears the number one goal is to automate it as much as possible. The technology landscape is no different. DevOps engineers are asked to automate as many tasks as possible in the current environment. This benefits both the engineer and the corporation. As an engineer, there are a lot of choices to complete a particular task at your disposal, but which automation tools are leading the way?
Probably not surprising, Puppet and Chef tend to garner the largest overall numbers. That has been the case when the data was originally analyzed, and it continues to this day. However, the more important piece is, are they growing? In both cases, the answer is no. Puppet has seen a decline of nearly 10% over the last six quarters, while Chef has seen an increase of about 7% over that same time period. In a nutshell, they both garner large demand, but they have remained fairly stagnant.
Adobe Releases Source Han Serif, Pan-CJK Typeface
Google's New Font Honors Ancient Type Traditions
Google's new font is a beautiful typeface for East Asian languages
Open source routing project gets a vital technology infusion
Open source networking proponents have uncorked an updated routing protocol project designed to give white box, virtualized environments of all sizes fast and reliable communications.
The project, now called the Free Range Routing (FRR) offers a full-on IP routing protocol suite for Linux/Unix platforms and includes protocol daemons for BGP, IS-IS, LDP, OSPF, PIM, and RIP. The FRR groupsays that the technology's integration with the native Linux/Unix IP networking stacksmakes it applicable to a wide variety of applications from connectinghosts/virtual machines/containers to the network, advertising network services, LAN switching and routing, Internet access routers, and Internet peering.
Mastodon.social is an open-source Twitter competitor that's growing like crazy
Eugen Rochko was annoyed with Twitter. The company had made a series of changes that he thought eroded the value of the service: limiting how big third-party applications could grow, for example, and implementing an algorithm-driven timeline that made Twitter feel uncomfortably similar to Facebook. Most people in Rochko's situation fired off an angry tweet or two and moved on. Rochko set about rebuilding Twitter from scratch.
Bye, Twitter. All the cool kids are migrating to Mastodon.
Mastodon is a type of free and open source software (FOSS) known as "GNU social." That means Jack Dorsey doesn't own it, and there is no board pressing Rochko to monetize user data or resign.
Genomics: using open-source technology to battle cancer
After a Year of Work, Collabora Releases Libnice 0.1.14 with More Improvements
Collabora's Mark Filion informs Softpedia today about the release of the libnice 0.1.14 library, an open-source implementation of IETF's ICE (Interactive Connectivity Establishment) standard on Linux-based operating systems.
For those unfamiliar with ICE, it's a key component of the well-known WebRTC standard. The announcement was made public by Collabora Multimedia Lead Olivier Crête, which is also the maintainer of the libnice NAT (Network Address Translation) traversal library used by numerous WebRTC implementations. These include OpenWebRTC, Janus, and Kurento.
High Performance Logging with Apache BookKeeper
Apache BookKeeper is a high-performance and low-latency cloud storage service, originally designed for write ahead logging. Since its original development, BookKeeper has been expanded and is now used by companies including Twitter, Yahoo, Salesforce, Huawei, and EMC.
In their presentation at the recent Vault conference, Venkateswararao Jujjuri (JV) from Salesforce and Sijie Guo from Twitter provided an overview of Apache BookKeeper and showed some production use cases. In this interview, they provide some additional implementation details.
Fae is a new open-source content management system based on Rails
INE, a San Francisco- and Portland-based brand agency, is open sourcing the content management system (CMS) it has developed in-house to build sites for brands like Anchor Brewing, Kimpton Residences at Seafire, Prūf Cultivar ("Elevated Cannabis") and others.
It's no secret that there is already a plethora of other CMS systems on the market and that it's hard to stand out in this crowded field. FINE, however, believes that Fae, as this new CMS engine is called, stands out for a couple of reasons — largely because of its focus on being lightweight and highly customizable. And because FINE has been using it to build its own customers' sites, it should also be pretty battle-hardened at this point.
April Open Source CMS Forecast: TYPO3 CMS 8, Drupal & More
With April ahead of us, the ever-evolving open source CMS scene is preparing itself for yet more action.
Last month, Joomla and SilverStripe took steps towards releasing new versions, DNN Software unveiled some new Test Drive pages, while WordPress patched an array of security issues.
Marmore Report: GCC Banks Should Move Quickly to Adapt Disruptive Technologies
How Will Finance Approach the Regulation of Blockchain?
IBM Names Three Blockchain Adoption Principles Essential for Every CEO to Consider
The Myth Of Using Cryptocurrencies For Asset Protection
Currency innovations like bitcoin could render bank deregulation moot
The Relationship Between Blockchain Technology and Bitcoin
The whys and hows of banks and the blockchain
DragonFlyBSD Gets NX Bit Support
While NX bit has been around for many years with AMD64 for marking page tables as no-execute or not, the DragonFlyBSD kernel is now only making use of it.
A Penguin tries out TrueOS, part II
In the first part of this article I've covered system installation, first login and GNOME/XFCE desktop environments usage and I've had a brief look at the init system of TrueOS.
In this second part I'm reviewing TrueOS' most exclusive and distinctive feature, the updates' management.
[Older] [PDF] FreeBSD Foundation Update, Q1 2017
Risk Analysis and Virtual Environment (RAVEN) now available for open-source access
Idaho National Laboratory recently released a new open-source software free to the public on the lab's GitHub website.
Open Hardware/Modding
Mouser Boosts Open Source Lineup with DFRobot, Globally Distributes Plug-and-Play Sensors Series
Mouser Electronics, Inc., the New Product Introduction (NPI) leader that empowers innovation, announces a global distribution agreement with DFRobot, a leading robotics and open source hardware provider. The agreement brings DFRobot's robotics and maker-focused products to Mouser's growing open source lineup.
The Gravity Arduino Starter Kit is a plug-and-play electronics toolkit that helps beginners easily learn how to work with sensors and the Arduino platform. The kit includes a DFRduino UNO R3 microcontroller, which functions exactly the same as Arduino UNO, and 12 popular Gravity components and sensors. The Gravity 27-Piece Sensor Kit for Arduino offers a robust selection of sensors that are fully compatible with the Arduino platform. The kit features a bundle of the most popular DFRobot Gravity sensors, including those for light, CO2, sound, touch, and distance, plus an accelerometer and a relay module. Both the Starter Kit and Sensor Kit use the IO Expansion Shield for connecting sensors to the Arduino board.
Cheap Arm Project: Affordable, Open Source DIY Robotics
When someone creates a new GitHub repository for a project that could help people around the world extend the reach of their limbs, I get a lump in my throat. The YouTube description of this open source hardware/software project describes the project in much better ways than I ever could.
5 cool C/C++ app dev tools
As compelling as new languages like Rust are for building systems, C and C++ remain fundamental for writing applications that run close to the metal, despite the waxing and waning of their usage statistics.
What's more, the culture of tools for C/C++ development remains deep and fruitful. Here are five C-related projects — compilers, libraries, and support tools — that caught our eye recently, whether for bolstering existing projects or starting new ones.
The alarming inside story of a failed Google acquisition, and an employee who was hospitalized
While the man's health recovered, his job at Google did not. After taking a couple of months' leave, he requested a transfer to a less physically demanding role within the team or elsewhere at Google X. Instead, he was sent back out into the field, essentially demoted, sources say, and eventually pushed out of the company.
6 terrible tech managers—and how to succeed despite them
Management guru and author Peter Drucker said that "only three things happen naturally in organizations: friction, confusion, and underperformance. Everything else requires leadership."
It's not the end of SPARC chips yet
Five Reasons to Switch to Flash Storage
By now you have heard your peers raving about flash storage. But perhaps you have not made the switch from your enterprise HDD storage solution yet, because of nagging questions you may have, about the cost of flash storage or its technical capabilities. Well here is a quick look at five compelling reasons why you should switch your enterprise storage from HDD to flash.
New Regulations Appear To Authorize Chinese Law Enforcement To Hack Into Computers Anywhere In The World
A recurrent theme here on Techdirt has been the way in which the West has ceded the moral high ground in so many areas involving the tech world. For example, in 2010, we noted that the US had really lost the right to point fingers over Internet censorship. The moral high ground on surveillance went in 2013 for people, and in 2014 for economic espionage. Meanwhile, the UK has been shown to be as bad as the most disreputable police states in its long-running blanket surveillance of all its citizens.
The UK's most recent move to cast off any pretense that it is morally superior to other "lesser" nations is the Investigatory Powers Act, which formalizes all the powers its intelligence services have been secretly using for years. One of the most intrusive of those is the power to carry out what is quaintly termed "equipment interference" — hacking — anywhere in the world.
Blockchain for IoT Extends Beyond Ensuring Security
Blockchain, the technology that made Bitcoin possible, has been getting a lot of attention in the IoT world, often because of its role in security. However, experts and practitioners said the potential of blockchain for IoT is deeper and broader than just keeping the bad guys out.
Ian Hughes, analyst of IoT at 451 Research, sees a role for blockchain that goes deeper, enabling authentication of devices — especially when they are connected infrequently, as the case might be with, say, agricultural systems that may shut down for large parts of the year. Having a blockchain distributed ledger can provide a tidy way to account for and recognize the return of long-lost network participants as trusted members.
Cilium Project Aims to Improve Container Networking Security
Wendlandt left VMware in March 2016 to become a partner at venture capital firm Andreessen Horowitz, where he remained until December. In January 2017, Wendlandt officially moved over to his new startup, known as Covalent, which is still in its stealth mode, though it is now clear what the company is focused on.
At the Kubecon/Cloud Native Con EU event in Germany last week, Wendlandt was staffing the booth for an open-source networking project called Cilium, which is being backed by his new startup Covalent.
Security updates for Tuesday
Montreal researcher helped convict one of gang behind Linux botnet
The Montreal branch of a security company is patting itself on the back for being among the resources used by the FBI to help convict a Russian for his role in creating and spreading the Linux-based Ebury botnet.
Alexis Dorais-Joncas, security intelligence team lead at the Montreal malware lab of ESET, said work done by researcher Marc-Étienne Léveillé contributed to the evidence mounted by the FBI which led to the guilty plea last week of Maxim Senakh to conspiring to violate the U.S. Computer Fraud and Abuse Act and to commit wire fraud. In exchange for the plea nine other charges were dropped.
A study of security vulnerabilities on Docker Hub
Over 80% of the latest versions of official images contained at least on high severity vulnerability!
Open Letter to the Free Software Community (2 Apr 2017)
As a technical update, we are currently working on a Libreboot port to the X220. Leah and Swift are investigating ways to disable the ME on Sandybridge hardware, which potentially means more modern Intel hardware may be supported. Additionally, Paul Kocialkowski has been working on supporting several new Chromebooks with ARM chips; these ports will also be available in an upcoming release.
Diskless true SSH honeypot using Alpine Linux
Camera-equipped sex toy manufacturer ignores multiple warnings about horrible, gaping security vulnerability
Pen Test Partners repeatedly warned Svakom of the vulnerability over a period of three months. Having received no reply to date, they've gone public.
California Looks to Compel IoT Security
There is a bill going through committee in the state of California which, if passed, would require a minium level of security for Internet of Things devices and then some. California SB 327 Information privacy: connected devices in its original form calls for connected device manufacturers to secure their devices, protect the information they collect or store, indicate when they are collecting it, get user approval before doing so, and be proactive in informing users of security updates
The changing security dynamic in the Red Sea
Israel appears to be in acceptance of an increased Saudi role in the Red Sea, which means that it is not perceived as a security threat, even in the long term, by Tel Aviv.
As such, the expected transfer of the islands is revealing a number of regional dynamics. The most vivid example of which is the new perceived strategic role of Saudi Arabia. The kingdom is expanding its role in the horn of Africa, especially with the recent conclusion of a deal with Djibouti to build a military base on its territory.
Trump's Foreign Policy Incoherence
President Trump's emerging foreign policy is one of contradictions and chaos, caught up in a combination of old establishment orthodoxies and some fresh recognition of reality but without any strong strategic thinker capable of separating one from the other and leading the administration in a thoughtful direction.
Stop treating former CIA chief Michael Hayden as an arbiter of truth
On the subject of Donald Trump and his relationship with intelligence agencies, there's one commentator you are bound to see quoted more than anyone else: Michael Hayden, the former NSA chief and CIA director under George W. Bush.
It doesn't matter what cable channel you prefer (CNN, MSNBC, or Fox News), what talk show you watch (The Late Show with Stephen Colbert, Real Time with Bill Maher), or website you read (The New York Times, Washington Post, or The Wall Street Journal), Hayden is everywhere, commenting on the day's news, while inevitably being portrayed as Mr. Reasonable: a post-partisan straight shooter who will tell you How It Really Works.
But members of the media who play along with this fantasyland portrayal of Hayden should be embarrassed. Hayden has a long history of making misleading and outright false statements, and by the estimation of many lawyers, likely committed countless felonies during the Bush administration. It is something of a wonder that someone responsible for so many reprehensible acts is now considered a totally above-the-fray, honest commentator on all issues intelligence.
Does it Matter Who Pulls the Trigger in the Drone Wars?
We're allowing a mindset of "anything Trump does is wrong" coupled with lightening-speed historical revisionism for the Obama era to sustain the same mistakes in the war on terror that have fueled Islamic terrorism for the past 15 years.
White House Meeting With Egypt's Tyrant Highlights Key Trump Effect: Unmasking U.S. Policy
Krugman believes — or at least wants his Democratic followers to believe — that supporting and praising savage despotism in Egypt is a new development that only happens in "Trump's America." The Washington Post's neoconservative columnist Jackson Diehl this morning encouraged Post readers to believe in the same fairy tale, complaining in his column about the "ugly scene" of a "love-in" between Trump and "the most repressive dictator in Egypt's modern history."
What neither Krugman nor Diehl ever once mentions — either because they're unaware of it or want to conceal it from their readers — is that the U.S. has been supporting, funding, and arming the Sisi tyranny for years under the Obama administration. In March 2015, as Sisi's human rights abuses intensified, Obama personally told the Egyptian tyrant in a call the good news that he was lifting a ban "on the delivery of F-16 aircraft, Harpoon missiles, and M1A1 tank kits" and — in the words of the White House — "also advised President al-Sisi that he will continue to request an annual $1.3 billion in military assistance for Egypt."
Trump's support for Sisi, a true monster, deserves all the condemnation it gets. But anyone who depicts any of this as something new or aberrational for the U.S. — Krugman: "Another morning in Trump's America" — is either ignorant or dishonest. Embracing the world's worst tyrants is and has long been a key prong of U.S. foreign policy. Trump, through a combination of ineptitude and a willingness to openly endorse authoritarianism, just makes all of this less hidden, less deniable.
And that's the reason so many in Washington — who never met a pro-U.S. dictator they weren't willing to arm and fund — are so upset by all this. Sisi isn't someone you invite over to your house for dinner; he's someone you send money and weapons to in secret after you give your pretty speeches in front of American flags about human rights and freedom. What Trump is violating is not any Washington principles or ethics but Washington propaganda tactics.
Trump Meets Egypt's el-Sisi, Amid Wave of Repression, Jailings & Extrajudicial Killings in Egypt
President Trump is to meet with Egyptian President General Abdel Fattah el-Sisi at the White House today, even as el-Sisi faces widespread criticism for human rights abuses in Egypt. Human rights organizations say Sisi and his security forces have arrested tens of thousands of Egyptians and have committed torture, forced disappearances and extrajudicial killings. The Trump administration has indicated it will not bring up the human rights abuses during today's meeting. For more, we go to Cairo, Egypt, to speak with Democracy Now! correspondent Sharif Abdel Kouddous.
Spanish navy ship illegally enters UK waters in Gibraltar after Brexit war threat, says government
A Spanish ship has illegally entered Gibraltar's territorial waters, the government has said.
The news comes amid increasing tensions between the UK and Spain over the sovereignty of the British Overseas Territory.
Transparency/Investigative Reporting
Britain will not push Ecuador to evict Julian Assange
The British government will not use the election result in Ecuador to renew efforts to evict Julian Assange from his Knightsbridge bolthole, Fairfax Media has learnt.
Instead it is relying on Sweden and Ecuador to persuade the Wikileaks editor to leave the Ecuadorian embassy in London, where he has stayed under asylum for four and a half years.
A Foreign Office spokesperson said: "This is an issue for Sweden and Ecuador. We encourage both countries to find a solution to the situation involving Julian Assange".
Swedish prosecutors interviewed Assange at the embassy late last year, and they are now reviewing the transcript to determine whether to continue their investigation of a rape allegation from 2010 against him.
DOJ Refuses FOIA Request On Emails, Claiming 'Personal Privacy'
We've talked in the past about how government FOIA officers seem to really love exemption b(5) which covers "inter-agency or intra-agency memorandum or letters which would not be available by law to a party other than an agency in litigation with the agency." But, in my experience, I've seen a ton of the next exemption: the b(6) exemption, often called the "privacy exemption." Officially, the law (5 USC 552(b)(6)), says only that "personnel and medical files and similar files the disclosure of which would constitute a clearly unwarranted invasion of personal privacy."
That seems like a perfectly reasonable exemption. Even if it is part of a government discussion, we don't want the government revealing medical files or something of a similar nature. But, over the years, this has gotten abused in weird ways, such as the time a FOIA officer used b(6) to redact Beyonce's name in a FOIA request about Beyonce. Really.
However, now I think we've seen the b(6) exemption to end all b(6) exemptions. This came to investigative reporter David Sirota, who filed a FOIA request to find out about emails between Makan Delrahim and employees of the DOJ's antitrust division. This is potentially useful info, because Delrahim was just nominated to head that very division. But, more importantly, Delrahim has been a powerful lobbyist for Anthem who tried to help it get its merger with Cigna approved — an effort that just recently failed in court, but may have another chance with Delrahim in a position of power.
'Mother' Ganges becomes a legal person
A court in India has recognised two of the country's holiest rivers, Himalayan glaciers, lakes and forests as "living entities" in an effort to protect them from environmental degradation.
As Seas Around Mar-a-Lago Rise, Trump's Cuts Could Damage Local Climate Work [Ed: cross-posted now]
If the most prominent resident of Palm Beach County has his way, Sea Grant would cease to exist. President Trump's proposed 2018 budget seeks to eliminate the $73 million program, along with more than $177 million worth of other initiatives within the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, many aimed at protecting communities from climate impacts. Trump's Mar-a-Lago resort is among the vulnerable.
Climate change isn't a nebulous threat for Palm Beach County, Florida, where sea creatures swim through driveways during seasonal king tides that flood low-lying streets. For years, the county has worked to address the problem by mapping flood risk, upgrading coastal storm protections and creating a regional climate action plan with three other counties. Later this year, local officials hope to host a sea level workshop by Thomas Ruppert, an attorney with the National Sea Grant College Program.
But if the most prominent resident of Palm Beach County has his way, Sea Grant would cease to exist. President Trump's proposed 2018 budget seeks to eliminate the $73 million program, along with more than $177 million worth of other initiatives within the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, many aimed at protecting communities from climate impacts.
El Salvador becomes first country to ban metals mining
Legislators in El Salvador made history Wednesday, passing a bill to ban all metallic mining activities in the country.
The results of the much-anticipated vote were unanimous: 69 in favor, none against, and no abstentions. Fifteen of the country's 84 lawmakers did not show up for the vote.
The result "makes tiny El Salvador the unlikely hero in a global movement to put the brakes on a modern day 'gold rush'," MiningWatch Canada wrote in a statement Thursday. The Central American nation is the first country in the world to ban mining for gold and other metals, according to the industry watchdog group.
Bernie Sanders Just Introduced His Free College Tuition Plan
President Donald Trump doesn't appear willing nor interested in addressing astronomical student debt levels, which long since crested above $1 trillion.
German president attacks 'irresponsible' Brexit campaign
Germany's president has launched a scathing attack on the politicians leading the UK out of the European Union, quoting the former deputy prime minister Michael Heseltine's warning that Britain is facing its greatest ever loss of sovereignty.
In an outspoken speech to the European parliament, his first as president, Frank-Walter Steinmeier told MEPs that the Brexiters would be unable to deliver on their promise to "take back control".
"It is wrong to say, in my conviction, that in this world a single European country standing alone and without the EU can make its voice heard or assert its economic interests. Quite to the contrary," the former German foreign secretary told MEPs in Strasbourg.
Brexit Off to Rocky Start With Rumors of War Over Gibraltar
War with Spain was not on the ballot paper when Britons went to the polls in last year's referendum and voted to withdraw from the European Union.
But Prime Minister Theresa May was forced to rule out the prospect of military action to defend the British enclave of Gibraltar on Monday, after a former leader of her Conservative Party seemed to suggest that might be necessary to keep Spain from demanding the territory's return as part of the deal to allow the United Kingdom to trade freely with remaining E.U. members.
Speaking on Sunday, Michael Howard, who is now a member of the House of Lords, suggested that if Spain tried to assert sovereignty over the outpost, the British prime minister could emulate her predecessor, Margaret Thatcher, who used force to keep control of another Spanish-speaking nation, Argentina, from seizing another British enclave, the Falklands.
The Filth of Lucre: Trump's Presidency
The American people should rise in condemnation, scorn, ridicule, at what has happened to its government and leadership. Super-wealth has become a political factor in guiding and planning policy, carrying a vision of destruction to the pillars of a democratic society in fulfillment of class interests and selfish contempt for the needs of others. America has never witnessed barbarism of such proportions before, a single-minded obsession with riches, which has been translated into power in a self-enclosed process of capital accumulation via the nymphomaniacal pursuit of opportunity, profit, possessiveness.
Bloomberg's Hit Job on Venezuela – and Me
The reporter, Christine Jenkins, asked if I knew President Maduro or could explain what he found of value in my writing. I said that I thought he probably was referring to my discussion in Killing the Host of a September 2014 Harvard Business Review article by William Lazonick, "Profits without Prosperity," calculating that for the decade 2003-2012, the 449 companies publicly listed in the S&P 500 index spent only 9% of their earnings on new capital investment. They used 54% to buy back their own stock, and 37% to pay dividends. I told the reporter that I thought the President's point was that the financial sector was not financing capital formation and employment to increase output.
I told her that I had not followed Venezuela's economy closely in recent years. I did say that I had discussed how Argentina and Greece were subjected to austerity as a result of foreign debt, and my belief that no sovereign nation should be obliged to impose austerity on its population to pay foreign bondholders. That has indeed been the problem confronting Latin America for decades, and is a central theme of all my books since Super Imperialism in 1972.
And to cap matters, of course, U.S. foreign policy has mobilized the World Bank and IMF to back creditor interests, foreign investment and privatization – while isolating countries from Cuba through Venezuela (and now Greece) to demonstrate that neoliberal diplomacy will make such a country a pariah if it makes a serious attempt to oppose austerity and financialization.
Why Does SEC Chair Piwowar Shield Overpaid CEOs?
President Donald Trump named Michael Piwowar as acting chair of the Securities and Exchange Commission shortly after his inauguration. Piwowar, one of the SEC's five commissioners since 2013, quickly flexed his acting chair muscles – on one of the agency's most high-profile recent decisions.
Back in August 2015, an SEC commissioner majority had approved a long-awaited set of regulations for enforcing an innovative 2010 Dodd-Frank Act provision on corporate pay disparities. The provision requires corporations to annually disclose the ratio between their CEO and median worker compensation.
Filling in the Magic Asterisk: The Republican Tax Reform Proposal
For years Republican House Speaker Paul Ryan wowed the Washington pundit class by pushing his balanced budget proposals. Not only did he outline a plan for taxes and spending that balanced the budget and paid down the debt, he actually got the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) to score the proposal, verifying his claims.
As a practical matter, there was considerably less in these proposals than claimed. On the spending side, Speaker Ryan told CBO to assume a spending path for the domestically discretionary side of the budget that essentially eliminated the federal government by 2050.
As it stands, the deduction effectively means that the federal government is picking up a substantial portion of the state and local income tax paid by upper-middle income people. If they are in the 40 percent tax bracket and they pay $10,000 in state income taxes, the federal government gives them back $4,000 of this money. It might be much harder to raise $10,000 in state taxes from these people if they had no offset from the federal government.
Up to 100,000 UK jobs at risk as Merkel and Juncker ally warns on euro clearing
The future of an estimated 100,000 jobs has been plunged into doubt after a close political ally of the German chancellor, Angela Merkel, and president of the European commission, Jean-Claude Juncker, warned that a prized sector in the City of London must relocate to EU soil after Brexit.
Manfred Weber, the leader of the centre-right European people's party – the largest political group in the European parliament, to which both the German chancellor and the commission president belong – told reporters that euro-denominated clearing could no longer be undertaken in the City when the UK leaves the EU.
"EU citizens decide on their own money," Weber said during a press conference in Strasbourg on Tuesday. "When the UK is leaving the European Union it is not thinkable that at the end the whole euro business is managed in London. This is an external place, this is not an EU place any more. The euro business should be managed on EU soil."
Brexit: Theresa May's timeline for EU talks are unrealistic, warns Germany's foreign minister
Germany's Foreign Minister has cast doubt on Theresa May's insistence that both a Brexit divorce deal and new free trade agreement with the EU can be completed by 2019.
In an exclusive interview with The Independent, Sigmar Gabriel said new trade relations would be "a laborious endeavour", suggesting the UK may have to settle for simply getting "as far as we can" in the two years allowed for talks.
How to resist Trump 101: Harvard students launch new course for activists
Students at the University of Harvard have created a four-week course to teach activists how to resist Donald Trump.
The course, which is open to people across the country and the world, offers four in-person and-live streamed sessions.
Sessions include talks on "how to mobilise and organise our communities" and "how to sustain the resistance long-term".
Trump's Changing Trust, Annotated
A new document shows that President Trump can take money from his companies at any time through the eponymous trust that holds his businesses.
That's one new detail about the Donald J. Trump Revocable Trust included in an updated version of the trust's certification document, the original of which was first obtained by ProPublica in January. A new version of that document was released by the federal government last week. The new document says that Trump's eldest son, Donald Trump Jr., and longtime attorney Allen Weisselberg must "distribute net income or principal to Donald J. Trump at his request" or whenever they deem fit.
Trump Can Pull Money From His Businesses Whenever He Wants — Without Ever Telling Us
When President Donald Trump placed his businesses in a trust upon entering the White House, he put his sons in charge and claimed to distance himself from his sprawling empire. "I hope at the end of eight years I'll come back and say, 'Oh you did a good job,'" Trump said at a Jan. 11 press conference. Trump's lawyer explained that the president "was completely isolating himself from his business interests."
The setup has long been slammed as insufficient, far short of the full divestment that many ethics experts say is needed to avoid conflicts of interest. A small phrase buried deep in a set of recently released letters between the Trump Organization and the government shows just how little separation there actually is.
Trump can draw money from his more than 400 businesses, at any time, without disclosing it.
Putin Derangement Syndrome Arrives
So Michael Flynn, who was Donald Trump's national security adviser before he got busted talking out of school to Russia's ambassador, has reportedly offered to testify in exchange for immunity.
For seemingly the 100th time, social media is exploding. This is it! The big reveal!
Perhaps it will come off just the way people are expecting. Perhaps Flynn will get a deal, walk into the House or the Senate surrounded by a phalanx of lawyers, and unspool the whole sordid conspiracy.
He will explain that Donald Trump, compromised by ancient deals with Russian mobsters, and perhaps even blackmailed by an unspeakable KGB sex tape, made a secret deal. He'll say Trump agreed to downplay the obvious benefits of an armed proxy war in Ukraine with nuclear-armed Russia in exchange for Vladimir Putin's help in stealing the emails of Debbie Wasserman-Schultz and John Podesta.
Jamie Dimon on Trump: On a plane, you root for the pilot
Jamie Dimon admitted he received "a lot of complaints" after agreeing to join President Trump's CEO advisory council.
But the JPMorgan CEO made it sound like a no-brainer, explaining he just wants America to do well.
"When you get on the airplane, you better be rooting for the success of the pilot," Dimon told Yahoo Finance during a town hall event on Tuesday.
"I am a patriot. I will do what I can to help the United States of America; that includes helping whoever is president," he said.
Professor Seeks Proof of U.S. Influence on Al-Jazeera
A Northwestern professor sued the State Department, demanding that it respond to her requests for documents about its purported aim of influencing Al-Jazeera's coverage of the U.S. and its wars in the Middle East via American university satellite campuses.
Dr. Jacqueline Stevens is a professor of political science at Northwestern University and director of its Deportation Research Clinic.
Canadian Customs See Comics As A Red Flag For Paedophiles – CBLDF Talks Censorship at Wondercon
This is a tricky time for comics and cartoonists. The worldwide political landscape might be giving artists a lot of inspiration, but the threat of censorship is more real than ever.
That's why the CBLDF panel "State of Censorship 2017" was such an interesting event. CBLDF editorial director Betsy Gomez gave the audience a crash course on the 1st amendment (even reading it to the audience at the start of the panel), modern censorship, saying it's been a particularly rough couple of years, and talked about why comics are targeted so frequently.
"Any book that is banned opens the door to more banning, and comics are especially vulnerable because of the pictures." That's right, the pictures, half of the reason people read comics instead of novels in the first place, make them a target.
Political Correctness Isn't About Censorship — It's About Decency
Not Steven. Not Stephen. Certainly not Steveareno.
It's a preference. My preference. My choice. And if people want to be in my good graces, they'll comply with my wishes.
There's nothing strange or unreasonable about this. We do it all the time – usually when we're being introduced to someone.
The Insanity of Self-Censorship: Climate Change, Politics, and Fear-Based Decision-Making
Climate change has a long list of known human health consequences, not the least of which is a set of adverse impacts on mental health. As more and more people are directly affected by destructive floods, heat waves, drought, deadly storms and other extreme weather events – all worsened by increasing concentrations of atmospheric carbon dioxide – experts predict a steep rise in mental and social disorders: anxiety, depression, PTSD, substance abuse, increased suicide rates, and outbreaks of violence. Hardest hit will be children, the poor, the elderly, and those with existing mental health problems: collectively, this amounts to about half the US population! Worse, the consensus seems to be that the mental health profession is unprepared to handle these challenges.
Vladimir Putin Defends China's Internet Censorship
Vladimir Putin has defended China's online censorship, declaring that the internet cannot be a place of excessive "quasi-freedom," Russian news agency Interfax has reported.
"We should not criticize what China is doing," the Russian president said when a blogger asked whether Moscow should follow or condemn Beijing's strict regulations online. "That's 1.5 billion people. Go ahead and try to govern them for a bit."
China's so-called 'Great Firewall' of measures, which restricts users from accessing websites such as Facebook and YouTube, is one of the most prohibitive national internet policies in the world. Authorities have also announced a crackdown, to be implemented over the next year, on users who disguise their Internet Provider address in order to circumvent the wall.
Russia Is Trying to Copy China's Approach to Internet Censorship
When you hear the words Russia and internet, you probably think of Kremlin-backed hacking. But the internet is also a powerful tool for Putin's opposition. Last month, the internet helped spark Russia's largest anti-government protests in five years. Russia responded by blocking access to webpages that promoted demonstrations.
This is part of a larger story. Just a few years ago, Russians had a mostly free internet. Now, Russian authorities would like to imitate China's model of internet control. They are unlikely to succeed. The Kremlin will find that once you give people internet freedom, it's not so easy to completely take it away.
Censorship is long proclaimed as one of the worst moral crimes against the press or the people's voice.
News Corp chief: Orwellian algorithms of Google and Facebook put us on 'slippery slope of censorship'
The chief executive of News Corp, parent company of The Sun and Times Newspapers, has warned that digital algorithms at Facebook and Google have "left us perched on the edge of the slippery slope of censorship".
His comments follow an investigation by The Times that revealed how programmatic advertising has led to adverts from reputable brands appearing alongside extremist online content and porn.
Censorship reaction
As some of you may have seen in last week's issue, a response was written to my column. Matt Gaffney wrote about his own paper getting silenced and spoke about how I am owed an apology. I personally do not think Mr. Gaffney's and my situations related to each other; I also don't think I am owed some kind of apology. All I want is for classes and professors to be open to adult discussion rather than treating the students like kids.
Facebook shouldn't facilitate censorship in Pakistan
In March, the rulers of Pakistan stepped up a campaign against blasphemy, frightening news from an Islamic nation where insulting the official religion is a capital crime.
From an American perspective, this would merely be another, distant nation's horror — if it weren't for one aspect of the story.
As part of the crackdown, Pakistani leaders have asked executives of Facebook and Twitter to help them help root out people who post blasphemous material on social media sites from anywhere in the world.
In response, Facebook said in mid-March that it planned to send a team to Pakistan to discuss the government's request. Really?
Art censorship in Tryon?
I recently found out that a toboggan named "Pussy Cat Hat" was removed from a downtown window display. The nice mannequin display by Tryon Arts and Crafts School was representing Tie-One-On. I find it astonishing that a town like Tryon would allow a piece of art to be censored! Art is meant to be a free thinking world! If someone had an issue with it that does not automatically dictate its merit. Only a fool would think that. Some of the greatest art in history evokes emotions. Good or bad. Duh!
Inequality in the Trump Era, Scientific Censorship, Singing the Blues in St. Louis
In the Trump Era, Income Inequality Viewed Through the Lens of White House Wealth
Women's Studies program condemns censorship
From darkness to the spotlight…
AAUP-UNH and UNH LU-AAUP statement on UNH censorship of SHARPP exhibit
'There's an avalanche heading towards us in terms of censorship'
Campaigner Paul Moon says the right to be offended comes with the right to free speech.
Plaza Theatre to show 'The Red Pill' amid controversy, censorship concerns
The Economist makes 2 valid points with latest Amos Yee article
Let's not rest on our laurels when it comes to rule of law
Take, for example, the judgment passed in the United States granting Amos Yee asylum on the basis that he was prosecuted on the pretext of silencing his political opinions (Blogger Amos Yee granted asylum in the US; March 25, online).
While it is not my prerogative to comment on the judgment's validity, it is vital to note that with relevance to the rule of law, such comments are a deviation from our rulings, creating a risk of conflict between societies.
Canadian Prosecutors Cut Loose 35 Mafia Suspects Rather Than Turn Over Info On Stingray Devices
At least in that case, law enforcement still ended up with a few convictions — albeit on charges lower than what it had hoped to obtain going in.
Cell tower spoofers are resulting in a lot of contradictory law enforcement behavior. Cops say they don't want to turn over info on Stingrays to public records requesters for "public safety" reasons, claiming it could compromise methods and techniques and allow criminals to stay out of their reach. They make the same claims in court when refusing to turn over information to defendants, which results in freshly-caught criminals being put back on the streets — something that certainly doesn't make the public any safer.
Trump signs law allowing ISPs to sell your browsing history
President Donald Trump quietly signed a law Monday preventing privacy rules that were passed last year from coming into effect which prevented internet providers from selling their browsing data.
A spokeswoman for the White House confirmed the signing.
The repeal of the rules was been met with controversy and anger from privacy and rights groups, for fear that internet providers, like Comcast and Verizon, would be able to gather and sell data about your browsing history to marketers and other companies, including information on where customers are, as well as other information about customers, such as financial or health status, and what people shop and search for.
A Coalition Condemns the Trump Proposal to Require Noncitizens to Disclose Passwords to Enter the US
The undersigned coalition of human rights and civil liberties organizations, trade associations, and experts in security, technology, and the law expresses deep concern about the comments made by Secretary John Kelly at the House Homeland Security Committee hearing on February 7, 2017, suggesting the Department of Homeland Security could require noncitizens to provide the passwords to their social media accounts as a condition of entering the country.
AT&T, Comcast & Verizon Pretend They Didn't Just Pay Congress To Sell You Out On Privacy
Large ISPs like AT&T, Verizon and Comcast spent a significant part of Friday trying to convince the press and public that they didn't just screw consumers over on privacy (if you've been napping: they did). With the vote on killing FCC broadband privacy protections barely in the books, ISP lobbyists and lawyers penned a number of editorials and blog posts breathlessly professing their tireless dedication to privacy, and insisting that worries about the rules' repeal are little more than "misinformation."
All of these posts, in lock step, tried to effectively make three key arguments: that the FTC will rush in to protect consumers in the wake of the FCC rules being repealed (not happening), ISPs don't really collect much data on you anyway (patently untrue), and that ISPs' lengthy, existing privacy policies and history of consumer respect mean consumers have nothing to worry about (feel free to pause here and laugh).
An Update on Verizon's AppFlash: Pre-Installed Spyware Is Still Spyware
Verizon recently rolled out a new pilot project to pre-install on customers' devices an app launcher/search tool that, we believe, is really just spyware. This software, called AppFlash, is preloaded on a new model of LG device—the LG K20 V—rather than in all of their Android line as we previously reported. The software allows Verizon and its partners to track the apps you have downloaded and then sell ads to you across the Internet based what those apps say about you, like which bank you use and whether you've downloaded a fertility app.
Trump Signs Bill to Roll Back Privacy Rules into Law
A measure to roll back crucial privacy protections has crossed the finish line, and Internet users are worse off for it.
Despite massive backlash from the American people, Congress passed and President Donald Trump signed into law a resolution that repeals the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) rules to protect consumers from privacy invasions by their Internet service providers (ISPs) like Comcast, AT&T, Verizon, and Time Warner Cable.
The rules—which codified and expanded on existing online privacy protections—were passed by the FCC in October of last year and set to go into effect later this year. They would have kept ISPs from selling customers' data and using new invasive ways to track and deliver targeted ads to customers. Additionally, the rules would have required those companies to protect customers' data against hackers.
Here's How to Protect Your Privacy From Your Internet Service Provider
We pay our monthly Internet bill to be able to access the Internet. We don't pay it to give our Internet service provider (ISP) a chance to collect and sell our private data to make more money. This was apparently lost on congressional Republicans as they voted to strip their constituents of their privacy. Even though our elected representatives have failed us, there are technical measures we can take to protect our privacy from ISPs.
Bear in mind that these measures aren't a replacement for the privacy rules that were repealed or would protect our privacy completely, but they will certainly help.
Trump is reportedly going to demand foreigners share their phone passwords to get into the US
A new round of possible vetting procedures is being examined by White House officials in the US, according to the Wall Street Journal, and they're not going to make anyone happy.
After limiting the size of electronic devices that travelers headed to the US from 10 airports in the Middle East and North Africa can carry on an airplane, the Trump administration is now considering extending a new set of limitation to most foreigners, even if they are only headed to the US for a short visit.
In fact, the new rules could apply to the majority of visitors to the US, including those from countries in western Europe, Japan, and Australia that are currently enrolled in America's more convenient visa waiver program.
The Bill of Rights at the Border: Fourth Amendment Limits on Searching Your Data and Devices
More than 325,000 people enter the United States via airports every day, with hundreds of thousands more crossing by land at the borders. Not only is that a lot of people, it's also a lot of computers, smartphones, and tablets riding along in our pockets, bags, and trunks. Unfortunately, the Fourth Amendment protections we enjoy inside the U.S. for our devices aren't always as strong when we're crossing borders—and the Department of Homeland Security takes advantage of it. On the other hand, the border is not a Constitution-free zone. What are the limits to how and how much customs and immigrations officials can access our data?
To help answer those questions, we're offering the second in our series of posts on the Constitution at the border, focusing this time on the Fourth Amendment. For Part 1 on the First Amendment, click here.
One Million Badgers
This week—for the first time ever—Privacy Badger has surpassed one million users. Privacy Badger is a browser extension for Chrome, Firefox, and Opera that automatically blocks hidden third-party trackers that would otherwise follow you around the web and spy on your browsing habits.
Third-party tracking—that is, when advertisers and websites track your browsing activity across the web without your knowledge, control, or consent—is an alarmingly widespread practice in online advertising. Privacy Badger spots and then blocks third-party domains that seem to be tracking your browsing habits (e.g. by setting cookies that could be used for tracking, or by fingerprinting your browser). If the same third-party domain appears to be tracking you on three or more different websites, Privacy Badger will conclude that the third party domain is a tracker and block future connections to it.
Minister explains Rudd's 'necessary hashtags' after week of confusion
The Home Office has clarified what Amber Rudd meant when she suggested the government would hire people who "understand the necessary hashtags" as part of the government's fight against extremist material online.
Prompted by a parliamentary question from Labour MP Louise Haigh, Home Office undersecretary Sarah Newton MP said: "The home secretary was referring to image hashing, the process of detecting the recurrence an image or video online.
"Hashing has proved effective in the removal of images of child sexual exploitation and has been used by a number of organisations including the Internet Watch Foundation and Interpol."
Your website on the Tor network
We are very proud to announce a unique service which enables any website to have a presence on the Tor network.
Hosting a website on the Tor network has previously been very challenging, requiring changes to both infrastructure and the site itself.
Dogsbody Technology Ltd. are now offering a turn-key solution to this problem, allowing almost any website to be placed on the Tor network without requiring expensive redevelopment.
AIG taps into consumer fears with new cybersecurity product
Consumers now share loads of personal data on websites and apps and store photos and sensitive information in cloud platforms.
President Trump just signed off on killing your Internet privacy protections
Trump move to kill privacy rules opposed by 72% of Republicans, survey says
But ordinary Americans aren't split on the issue, according to a Huffington Post/YouGov survey that found 72 percent of Republicans and 72 percent of Democrats opposed the rollback.
President Trump Signs Internet Privacy Repeal Into Law
President Trump has signed a bill which repeals Internet privacy rules passed last year by the Federal Communications Commission. Internet service providers are now free to spy on their customers' browsing activities in order to generate targeted advertising. Predictably, many users are considering counter-measures.
Lawmakers propose law requiring warrants to search electronics at US border
There's a big area in the US where the Constitution doesn't apply, at least when the Fourth Amendment right to be free from unreasonable search and seizure is concerned. It's called the US border, or port of entry. In that area, you and your electronic devices, whether you're coming or going to the US, can be searched without reason.
Bill would stop warrantless border device searches of US citizens
A new bipartisan bill would prevent Americans' electronic devices from being searched at the border without a warrant, a response to an increase in such electronic searches.
There's Nowhere to Hide on the Internet
Encryption Policy and Freedom of the Press
Unlike twenty years ago, today surveillance is ubiquitous, and the need for encryption is no longer felt by a seldom few. Encryption has become necessary for even the most basic exchange of information given that most Americans share "nearly every aspect of their lives – from the mundane to the intimate" over the Internet, as stated in a recent Supreme Court opinion.
Without privacy, you lose the ability to form your identity
Facebook's Whatsapp Is Getting Into Digital Payments in India
It's chosen to kick off that maiden effort in India, a market dominated by Alibaba-backed digital payments leader Paytm but where WhatsApp's 200 million users outnumber any other country.
Ethiopian maid filmed falling from seventh floor 'trying to escape Kuwaiti employer wanting to kill her'
"The lady put me in the bathroom and was about to kill me in the bathroom without anybody finding out, she would have thrown my body out like rubbish, so instead of staying there I went to save myself and then I fell,"
Child trafficking in UK hits record high, figures show
Number of child victims referred rise by 30 per cent in a year, with biggest surge among British children and youngsters from countries affected by conflict
Eyewitness to a Title IX Witch Trial
Still, the history of purification rituals is a pretty squalid one. Heading down this path once again requires a lot of historical amnesia from everyone involved. That college campuses should be where history goes to be forgotten is depressing on all levels, not least when it comes to the future of higher education — and freedoms of every stripe.
UK's need for post-Brexit trade deals will trump human rights concerns
Theresa May's argument that it is better to engage with unsavoury foreign governments who abuse human rights than "stand on the sidelines, sniping" has been made by British politicians since the days of South Africa's white minority apartheid regime. Critics find it no more convincing today than it was then.
May said her visit on Tuesday to Saudi Arabia, which the UN has accused of possible war crimes in Yemen, and this week's courtesy call by the international trade secretary, Liam Fox, on the boastfully murderous regime of Rodrigo Duterte in the Philippines were in line with her philosophy of furthering the "British national interest".
The Supreme Court Decision to Protect People with Intellectually Disability from Execution Was Long Overdue
The high court's decision protecting people with intellectual disabilities comes too late for my executed client.
In 2002, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in Atkins v. Virginia that the government could no longer execute people with an intellectual disability, then called "mental retardation," because the practice violated the Eighth Amendment. Texas skirted the ruling by creating wholly unscientific criteria to determine intellectual disability, based on, of all things, the fictional character Lennie from Steinbeck's Of Mice and Men. A new ruling last week by the court in Moore v. Texas should put an end to that and other unscientific measures states have used to execute people with intellectual disabilities.
This is a victory. But as with many victories in modern Supreme Court jurisprudence, they come after many defeats that saw a great human toll.
I think of my executed client, Robert Ladd. He had an IQ of 67, and had been identified by the Texas Youth Commission as "fairly obviously" intellectually disabled. As he awaited execution in 2015, he still had hope. He knew our Supreme Court petition showing he was intellectually disabled would succeed. I could see hope in Robert's eyes, as we said goodbye through the death-house bars. Robert was right. The Supreme Court would see the light. Just too late for Robert.
China Fails to Protect Students with Disabilities from Discrimination
On February 23, 2017 the Chinese government released an updated version of the Regulations of Education of Persons with Disabilities that still leaves students with disabilities vulnerable to discrimination.
The amendments are promoted by the government as improving and protecting the rights of interests of disabled students. China hadn't updated the regulations since 1994 despite ratifying the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities in 2008, which states persons with disabilities have the right to inclusive education and be able to go to regular schools with students without disabilities.
China's new rules on education for people with disabilities still fall short, says NGO
China has released revised regulations on education for people with disabilities. However, despite positive changes to guaranteeing education for persons with disabilities, they still fall short in critical areas, says Maya Wang, a researcher at New York-based NGO Human Rights Watch.
China: New Rules for Students with Disabilities Inadequate
New Chinese government regulations encourage mainstream education for students with disabilities, but do not provide adequate pathways for achieving that aim, Human Rights Watch said today. On February 23, 2017, the Chinese government released long-awaited Regulations of Education of Persons with Disabilities to replace the out-of-date 1994 regulations.
A farewell to democracy?
With the decline of these values as a backdrop, leaders such as Viktor Orbán in Hungary, Nigel Farage in the United Kingdom, Recep Tayyip Erdogan in Turkey, and Marine Le Pen in France, appear to have chosen as a reference the autocratic drift which Vladimir Putin has termed "illiberal democracy".
The EU is the real protector of national identities
I am writing this note from a holiday in Austria, just as my adoptive home – I moved to England many years ago as a young adult – has formally decided to hand in Article 50. It is interesting reading the German and Austrian press, and seeing the news from here. From the Kronen Zeitung (an Austrian tabloid) to the ever-serious Frankfurter Allgemeine, the tone is factual and calm. They are largely commenting on "higher things," like what will happen to Europeans in Britain, and whether Britain has an independent judiciary and can be relied on to protect the rights of minorities in the future. Most importantly, the impression from this corner of its press is that Europeans really believe in Europe. It is not a transactional matter for them. It has a real existence for them as perhaps it never had for many in England.
There seems to be a wide German consensus that May cannot cherry pick, that the separation terms must be agreed on first, and that Brexit will be about Europe's future unity. There was a frosty reception to May's mentioning security 11 times in her letter. And the German-language newspapers emphasize that showing emotions is not the way to go. There is a job to be done untangling Britain, and it must be done professionally and in such a way that the unity, indeed the concept of Europe, is only minimally damaged.
The Bloodstained Rise of Global Populism
In 2016, something extraordinary happened in the politics of diverse countries around the world. With surprising speed and simultaneity, a new generation of populist leaders emerged from the margins of nominally democratic nations to win power. In doing so, they gave voice, often in virulent fashion, to public concerns about the social costs of globalization.
Even in societies as disparate as the affluent United States and the impoverished Philippines, similarly violent strains of populist rhetoric carried two unlikely candidates from the political margins to the presidency. On opposite sides of the Pacific, these outsider campaigns were framed by lurid calls for violence and even murder.
As his insurgent crusade gained momentum, billionaire Donald Trump moved beyond his repeated promises to fight Islamic terror with torture and brutal bombing by also advocating the murder of women and children. "The other thing with the terrorists is you have to take out their families, when you get these terrorists, you have to take out their families," he told Fox News. "They care about their lives, don't kid yourself. When they say they don't care about their lives, you have to take out their families."
Connecticut Lawmakers Vote To Give Police Drones With Guns
Connecticut's legislature has managed to back into legalizing law enforcement use of weaponized drones. In writing a new drone law, lawmakers banned the use of weaponized drones, but made an exception for police. It's not a case of "Hey, let's give the cops weaponized drones!" as much as it is a case of not wanting law enforcement to be unable to have that option.
Omidyar network gives $100 million to boost journalism and fight hate speech
One of the first contributions, $4.5 million, will go to the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists (ICIJ), the Washington-based group behind last year's Panama Papers investigation, which revealed offshore businesses and shell corporations, some of which were used for purposes such as tax evasion.
Inventor of World Wide Web Receives ACM A.M. Turing Award
ACM named Sir Tim Berners-Lee, a Professor at Massachusetts Institute of Technology and the University of Oxford, the recipient of the 2016 ACM A.M. Turing Award. Berners-Lee was cited for inventing the World Wide Web, the first web browser, and the fundamental protocols and algorithms allowing the Web to scale. Considered one of the most influential computing innovations in history, the World Wide Web is the primary tool used by billions of people every day to communicate, access information, engage in commerce, and perform many other important activities.
Web inventor Sir Tim Berners-Lee slams UK and US net plans
Unesco Says Adding DRM To HTML Is A Very Bad Idea
For years now, we've written about the years-long effort, led by the MPAA and others, to put DRM directly into the standard for HTML5 (via "Encrypted Media Extensions" or EME) which continues to move forward with Tim Berners-Lee acting as if there's nothing that can be done about it. It appears that not everyone agrees. Unesco, the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization has come out strongly against adding DRM to HTML5 in a letter sent to Tim Berners-Lee (found via Boing Boing).
Unesco warns the World Wide Web Consortium that DRM is incompatible with free expression
Unesco's Frank La Rue has published a letter to Tim Berners-Lee, Director of the World Wide Web Consortium, warning him of the grave free-speech consequences of making DRM for the web without ensuring that lawful activity that requires bypassing it is also protected.
Unesco is the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization; tasked with "contributing to peace and security by promoting international collaboration through educational, scientific, and cultural reforms in order to increase universal respect for justice, the rule of law, and human rights along with fundamental freedom proclaimed in the United Nations Charter."
Deep Dive Into Why The Copyright Office Belongs In The Library Of Congress
There's a lot more in the piece as well, including some discussion on the new Librarian of Congress effectively firing the Register of Copyrights, Maria Pallante. I wrote the piece before also finding out about the massive failed IT project under Pallante, which provided an even greater rationale for the firing… and (importantly) much, much bigger reasons to have Congress reject this plan to effectively give more autonomy to the Copyright Office and to remove the oversight of the Librarian of Congress.


There is waste everywhere, but particularly food waste. Everyone knows that food is wasted more often than it should be, but not everyone knows just how much and where. The task: collect enough data on food waste, organize it in an understandable fashion using a visual medium.
A set of data visualization posters that explore how food waste is generated across the stages of the value chain, where it is generated the most, and how both manufacturers and consumers can aid in the efforts to reduce food waste. The format of each poster within the series is similar, but they differ in their focus of content. Together the posters convey the magnitude of what is wasted while simultaneously educating readers on what they can do to help aid in food waste reduction. Two weeks were spent collecting and organizing the data for these posters, with another two weeks spent writing the narrative and putting the graphs and charts together.


text:
"""
Verify that all examples in ``taxon_api`` are runnable.

When you add a new example, add a call to it, here.
"""

__author__ = 'Dan Gunter <dkgunter@lbl.gov>'
__date__ = '9/19/15'

from doekbase.data_api.tests.examples.taxon_api import *
from doekbase.data_api.tests import shared

def setup():
    shared.setup()

def test_examples():
    url = shared.services['workspace_service_url']
    fetch_and_print_taxon(url)

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaGithub