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The 32-Bit Dog Ate 16 Million Kids’ CS Homework

“Any student progress from 9:19 to 10:33 a.m. on Friday was not saved…” explained the embarrassed CTO of the educational non-profit Code.org, “and unfortunately cannot be recovered.” Slashdot reader theodp writes: Code.org CTO Jeremy Stone gave the kids an impromptu lesson on the powers of two with his explanation of why The Cloud ate their homework. “The way we store student coding activity is in a table that until today had a 32-bit index… The database table could only store 4 billion rows of coding activity information [and] we didn’t realize we were running up to the limit, and the table got full. We have now made a new student activity table that is storing progress by students. With the new table, we are switching to a 64-bit index which will hold up to 18 quintillion rows of information. The issue also took the site offline, temporarily making the work of 16 million K-12 students who have used the nonprofit’s Code Studio disappear. “On the plus side, this new table will be able to store student coding information for millions of years, ” explains the site’s CTO. But besides Friday’s missing saves, “On the down side, until we’ve moved everything over to the new table, some students’ code from before today may temporarily not appear, so please be patient with us as we fix it.” Read more of this story at Slashdot.

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The 32-Bit Dog Ate 16 Million Kids’ CS Homework

Geek Avenges Stolen Laptop By Remotely Accessing Thief’s Facebook Account

An anonymous reader quotes Hot Hardware: Stu Gale, who just so happens to be a computer security expert, had the misfortune of having his laptop stolen from his car overnight. However, Gale did have remote software installed on the device which allowed him to track whenever it came online. So, he was quite delighted to see that a notification popped up on one of his other machines alerting him that his stolen laptop was active. Gale took the opportunity to remote into the laptop, only to find that the not-too-bright thief was using his laptop to login to her Facebook account. The thief eventually left her Facebook account open and left the room, after which Gale had the opportunity to snoop through her profile and obtain all of her private information. “I went through and got her phone numbers, friends list and pictures…” Given that Gale was able to see her phone numbers listed on Facebook, he sent text messages to all of those numbers saying that he was going to report her to the police. He also posted her info to a number of Facebook groups, which spooked the thief enough to not only delete her Facebook account, but also her listed phone numbers. In 2008 Slashdot ran a similar story, where it took several weeks of remote monitoring before a laptop thief revealed his identity. (The victim complained that “It was kind of frustrating because he was mostly using it to watch porn.”) But in this case, Gale just remotely left a note on the laptop — and called one of the thief’s friends — and eventually turned over all the information to the police, who believe an arrest will follow. Gale seems less confident, and tells one Calgary newspaper “I’m realistic. I’m not going to see that computer again. But at least I got some comic relief.” Read more of this story at Slashdot.

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Geek Avenges Stolen Laptop By Remotely Accessing Thief’s Facebook Account

FTC Dismantles Two Huge Robocall Organizations

Billions of robocalls came from two groups selling extended auto warranties, SEO services, and home security systems over the last seven years — many to numbers on the “Do Not Call” list — but this week the Federal Trade Commission took action. Trailrunner7 shares this report from OnTheWire: Continuing its campaign against phone fraud operations, the FTC has dismantled two major robocall organizations… They and many of their co-defendants have agreed to court-ordered bans on robocall activities and financial settlements… The FTC and the FCC both have been cracking down on illegal robocall operations recently. The FCC has formed a robocall strike force with the help of carriers and also has signed an agreement to cooperate with Canadian authorities to address the problem. “The law is clear about robocalls, ” says one FTC executive. “If a telemarketer doesn’t have consumers’ written permission, it’s illegal to make these calls.” Read more of this story at Slashdot.

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FTC Dismantles Two Huge Robocall Organizations

Female Shark Learns To Reproduce Without Males After Years Alone

An anonymous reader quotes a report from New Scientist: A female shark separated from her long-term mate has developed the ability to have babies on her own. Leonie the zebra shark (Stegostoma fasciatum) met her male partner at an aquarium in Townsville, Australia, in 1999. They had more than two dozen offspring together before he was moved to another tank in 2012. From then on, Leonie did not have any male contact. But in early 2016, she had three baby sharks. Intrigued, Christine Dudgeon at the University of Queensland in Brisbane, Australia, and her colleagues began fishing for answers. One possibility was that Leonie had been storing sperm from her ex and using it to fertilize her eggs. But genetic testing showed that the babies only carried DNA from their mum, indicating they had been conceived via asexual reproduction. Some vertebrate species have the ability to reproduce asexually even though they normally reproduce sexually. These include certain sharks, turkeys, Komodo dragons, snakes and rays. However, most reports have been in females who have never had male partners. In sharks, asexual reproduction can occur when a female’s egg is fertilized by an adjacent cell known as a polar body, Dudgeon says. This also contains the female’s genetic material, leading to “extreme inbreeding”, she says. “It’s not a strategy for surviving many generations because it reduces genetic diversity and adaptability.” Nevertheless, it may be necessary at times when males are scarce. “It might be a holding-on mechanism, ” Dudgeon says. “Mum’s genes get passed down from female to female until there are males available to mate with.” It’s possible that the switch from sexual to asexual reproduction is not that unusual; we just haven’t known to look for it, Dudgeon says. Read more of this story at Slashdot.

5G Internet is the ‘Beginning of the Fourth Industrial Revolution’

Next-generation 5G mobile internet technology marks the beginning of the “fourth industrial revolution, ” the chief executive of Turkey’s leading telecoms player told CNBC on Thursday. From a report: 5G is viewed as a technology that can support the developing Internet of Things (IOT) market, which refers to millions — or potentially billions — of internet-connected devices that are expected soon to come on to the market. Kaan Terzioglu, the chief executive of Turkcell, which has a market capitalization of $23 billion, touted the potential of the technology, saying that while 4G revolutionized the consumer market, 5G could transform the industrial space. “I think this is the beginning of the fourth generation of the industrial revolution. This will be the platform linking billions of devices together, ” Terzioglu told CNBC at the World Economic Forum in Davos. Turkcell has been working on 5G technologies since 2013 and this week completed a test in partnership with Ericsson, using the next-generation internet. Read more of this story at Slashdot.

Thousands Of Cubans Now Have Internet Access

There’s been a dramatic change in one of the world’s least-connected countries. An anonymous reader quotes the AP: Since the summer of 2015, the Cuban government has opened 240 public Wi-Fi spots in parks and on street corners across the country… The government estimates that 100, 000 Cubans connect to the internet daily. A new feature of urban life in Cuba is the sight of people sitting at all hours on street corners or park benches, their faces illuminated by the screen of smartphones connected by applications such as Facebook Messenger to relatives in Miami, Ecuador or other outposts of the Cuban diaspora… Cuban ingenuity has spread internet far beyond those public places: thousands of people grab the public signals through commercially available repeaters, imported illegally into Cuba and often sold for about $100 — double the original price. Mounted on rooftops, the repeaters grab the public signals and create a form of home internet increasingly available in private rentals for tourists and cafes and restaurants for Cubans and visitors alike. The article also points out that last month, for the first time ever, 2, 000 Cubans began receiving home internet access. Read more of this story at Slashdot.

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Thousands Of Cubans Now Have Internet Access

Hamas ‘Honey Trap’ Dupes Israeli Soldiers

wiredmikey quotes Security Week: The smartphones of dozens of Israeli soldiers were hacked by Hamas militants pretending to be attractive young women online, an Israeli military official said Wednesday. Using fake profiles on Facebook with alluring photos, Hamas members contacted the soldiers via groups on the social network, luring them into long chats, the official told journalists on condition of anonymity. Dozens of the predominantly lower-ranked soldiers were convinced enough by the honey trap to download fake applications which enabled Hamas to take control of their phones, according to the official. Read more of this story at Slashdot.

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Hamas ‘Honey Trap’ Dupes Israeli Soldiers

Tor Onion Browser’s Creator Explains Free Version For iOS

The free iOS version of the Tor browser “sparked a tidal wave of interest” after its release in December, according to Silicon.co. Mickeycaskill writes: The cost has been scrapped due to developer Mike Tigas’ worries that the price was limiting access to anonymous browsing for those who need it most. “Given recent events, many believe it’s more important than ever to exercise and support freedom of speech, privacy rights, and digital security, ” Tigas wrote in a blog post. “I think now is as good a time as ever to make Onion Browser more accessible to everyone.” “I’m still a little terrified that I’ve made this change, ” Tigas adds. For four years the Tor Onion browser was available on the Apple App Store for $0.99, the lowest non-free price allowed by Apple, providing a “reliable” income to Tigas which helped him move to New York for a new job while allowing him “the economic freedom to continue working on side projects that have a positive impact in the world.” Tigas also writes that “there’s now a Patreon page and other ways to support the project.” Last month the Tor Project also released the first alpha version of the sandboxed Tor Browser. Read more of this story at Slashdot.

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Tor Onion Browser’s Creator Explains Free Version For iOS

‘Tooth Repair Drug’ May Replace Fillings

Teeth can be encouraged to repair themselves in a way that could see an end to fillings, according to scientists. From a report on BBC: The team at King’s College London showed that a chemical could encourage cells in the dental pulp to heal small holes in mice teeth. A biodegradable sponge was soaked in the drug and then put inside the cavity. The study, published in Scientific Reports, showed it led to “complete, effective natural repair.” Teeth have limited regenerative abilities. They can produce a thin band of dentine — the layer just below the enamel — if the inner dental pulp becomes exposed, but this cannot repair a large cavity. Scientists discovered that a drug called Tideglusib heightened the activity of stem cells in the dental pulp so they could repair 0.13mm holes in the teeth of mice. A drug-soaked sponge was placed in the hole and then a protective coating was applied over the top. As the sponge broke down it was replaced by dentine, healing the tooth. Read more of this story at Slashdot.

Atlassian Acquires Trello For $425M

An anonymous reader shares a TechCrunch report: Atlassian today announced that it has acquired project management service Trello for $425 million. The vast majority of the transaction is in cash ($360 million), with the remainder being paid out in restricted shares and options. The acquisition is expected to close before March 31, 2017. This marks Atlassian’s 18th acquisition and, as Atlassian president Jay Simons noted, it is also the largest. Just like with many of Atlassian’s other acquisitions, the company plans to keep both the Trello service and brand alive and current users shouldn’t see any immediate changes. Read more of this story at Slashdot.

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Atlassian Acquires Trello For $425M

Ken May

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