GOP Congressman Introduces Bill To Reinstate Net Neutrality Rules Slashdotby BeauHD on republicans at January 1, 1970, 1:00 am (cached at July 17, 2018, 11:34 pm)

Rep. Mike Coffman (R-CO) today announced his support for a bill that would institute the basic outlines of the FCC's 2015 Open Internet order, which banned the throttling and blocking of content as well as harmful paid prioritization practices. He is also the first Republican to sign on to the Democrat-led discharge petition, which aims to force a vote on the House floor to roll back the FCC's December decision to repeal net neutrality. The Verge reports: The 21st Century Internet Act aims to restructure the current framework by which the internet has been governed since the '90s. Coffman's bill moves past this argument by amending the 1934 Telecommunications Act and adding the new Title VIII. This new classification would "permanently codify into law the 'four corners' of net neutrality" by banning providers from controlling traffic quality and speed and forbidding them from participating in paid prioritization programs or charging access fees from edge providers. On top of providing stable ground for net neutrality rules to be upheld in the future, the legislation also makes it illegal for providers to participate in "unfair or deceptive acts or practices." It directs the FCC to investigate claims of anticompetitive behavior on behalf of consumers after receiving their complaints. Transparency requirements are heightened for providers as well, as companies must publicly disclose information regarding their network practices to allow consumers to "make informed choices regarding use of such services."

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After backlash, Trump says misspoke on Russian election meddling AL JAZEERA ENGLISH (AJE)(cached at July 17, 2018, 11:30 pm)

US president says he accepts conclusion by intelligence officials that Moscow interfered in the 2016 election.
Microsoft Is Making the Windows Command Line a Lot Better Slashdotby BeauHD on microsoft at January 1, 1970, 1:00 am (cached at July 17, 2018, 11:05 pm)

An anonymous reader quotes a report from Ars Technica: Over the last few years, Microsoft has been working to improve the Windows console. Console windows now maximize properly, for example. In the olden days, hitting maximize would make the window taller but not wider. Today, the action will fill the whole screen, just like any other window. Especially motivated by the Windows subsystem for Linux, the console in Windows 10 supports 16 million colors and VT escape sequences, enabling much richer console output than has traditionally been possible on Windows. Microsoft is working to build a better console for Windows, one that we hope will open the door to the same flexibility and capabilities that Unix users have enjoyed for more than 40 years. The APIs seem to be in the latest Windows 10 Insider builds, though documentation is a little scarce for now. The command-line team is publishing a series of blog posts describing the history of the Windows command-line, and how the operating system's console works. The big reveal of the new API is coming soon, and with this, Windows should finally be able to have reliable, effective tabbed consoles, with emoji support, rich Unicode, and all the other things that the Windows console doesn't do... yet.

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Libyan coastguard left refugees to die in Mediterranean: NGO AL JAZEERA ENGLISH (AJE)(cached at July 17, 2018, 11:00 pm)

A woman and a child were found dead hours after they were left in their damaged boat by the Libyan coastguard.
Hong Kong: Pro-independence party faces possible ban AL JAZEERA ENGLISH (AJE)(cached at July 17, 2018, 10:30 pm)

Police in Hong Kong have sought to ban the political party, citing it as a potential national security threat.
Astronomers find 10 new moons around Jupiter, including 'oddball' AL JAZEERA ENGLISH (AJE)(cached at July 17, 2018, 10:00 pm)

Scientists discovered 10 new moons orbiting Jupiter, the planet now has more moons than any other planet.
Probe launched as one more black rhino dies after Kenya transfer AL JAZEERA ENGLISH (AJE)(cached at July 17, 2018, 9:30 pm)

Police detectives are given one week to determine what caused the deaths of nine critically endangered black rhinos.
The US is Facing a Serious Shortage of Airline Pilots Slashdotby msmash on transportation at January 1, 1970, 1:00 am (cached at July 17, 2018, 9:04 pm)

An anonymous reader shares a report: The national security of the United States relies on a healthy airline industry. That requires modern reliable airplanes -- and highly skilled pilots to operate them. However, the United States has a shortage of pilots right now, particularly at the regional airline levels. According to the Federal Aviation Administration, there were about 827,000 pilots in America in 1987. Over the past three decades, that number has decreased by 30%. Meanwhile, during this period, there has been a tremendous increase in the demand for air travel. The International Air Transport Association predicts that, over the next 20 years, air travel will double. This is a classic case of low supply and high demand. This mismatch has created a perfect storm that could wreak havoc on the US airline industry over the next decade. The somber news is this shortage is going to get much worse. I have not only studied and researched the airline industry since 1978, but I also was a pilot for 19 years, before going back to academia in 2006. In the 1970s, when most of today's airline pilots like myself were growing up, piloting for an airline was considered a prestigious career. The job offered not only high salaries and nice schedules with many days off, but also a respected position in society. In the early 1990s, pilot salaries approached $300,000 in today's dollars for some international pilots. What's more, during this time, the military had a steady and consistent demand for pilots. A young aspiring aviator could go into the military to receive all of his or her flight training. Once these pilots had fulfilled their military commitment, they were almost guaranteed a good job flying for a major airline. Today, this is no longer the case. The career of the airline pilot has lost its luster.

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Mali: Hundreds killed in inter-communal violence this year AL JAZEERA ENGLISH (AJE)(cached at July 17, 2018, 9:00 pm)

Most of the civilian deaths occurred in the country's central region of Mopti, according to the UN human rights office.
Baidu Ends Brazil Operations, Will Now Handle the Brazilian User Base From China Slashdotby msmash on internet at January 1, 1970, 1:00 am (cached at July 17, 2018, 8:35 pm)

Chinese web search company Baidu is ending its operations in Brazil, five years after it set up shop in the country. From a report: The company will be handling the Brazilian user base for its web services from China. There are currently two employees working on formal procedures related to the firm's local shutdown, according to local newspaper Valor Economico. A representative for the company said there is no formal statement for Baidu's departure from Brazil. It is also unclear whether Yan Di, the Chinese executive responsible for the Brazil operation, will still work for the company. Baidu's plans for the country changed as part of a shift in the company's global strategy. As part of the new plan, the firm started to spin out business units responsible for apps and mobile advertising, as well as financial services, to sharpen its focus on artificial intelligence.

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Thousands of Patient Records Held for Ransom in Ontario Home Care Data Breach, Attac Slashdotby msmash on canada at January 1, 1970, 1:00 am (cached at July 17, 2018, 8:35 pm)

CBC reports: The detailed medical histories and contact information of possibly tens of thousands of home-care patients in Ontario are allegedly being held for ransom by thieves who recently raided the computer systems of a health-care provider. CarePartners, which provides home medical care services on behalf of the Ontario government, announced last month that it had been breached. It said only that personal health and financial information of patients had been "inappropriately accessed," and did not elaborate further. However, a group claiming responsibility for the breach recently contacted CBC News and provided a sample of the data it claims to have accessed, shedding new light on the extent of the breach. The sample includes thousands of patient medical records with phone numbers and addresses, dates of birth, and health card numbers, as well as detailed medical histories including past conditions, diagnoses, surgical procedures, care plans and medications for patients across the province.

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What does the Helsinki summit mean for Syria? AL JAZEERA ENGLISH (AJE)(cached at July 17, 2018, 8:30 pm)

The Helsinki summit confirmed that Trump is taking a back seat on Syria.
Thousands of Mega Logins Dumped Online, Exposing User Files Slashdotby msmash on security at January 1, 1970, 1:00 am (cached at July 17, 2018, 8:04 pm)

Thousands of credentials for accounts associated with New Zealand-based file storage service Mega have been published online, ZDNet reports. From the report: The text file contains over 15,500 usernames, passwords, and files names, indicating that each account had been improperly accessed and file names scraped. Patrick Wardle, chief research officer and co-founder at Digita Security, found the text file in June after it had been uploaded to malware analysis site VirusTotal some months earlier by a user purportedly in Vietnam. Wardle passed the data to ZDNet. We verified that the data belonged to Mega, the file-sharing site formerly owned by internet entrepreneur Kim Dotcom by contacting several users, who confirmed that the email address, password, and some of the files we showed them were used on Mega.

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Robots that Paint Have Gotten Pretty Impressive Slashdotby msmash on ai at January 1, 1970, 1:00 am (cached at July 17, 2018, 7:34 pm)

An anonymous reader shares a report: Of the 100 images submitted to the 2018 Robotart competition, an automaton called CloudPainter rose to the top, with evocative portraits featuring varying degrees of abstraction. One of its winning images was created by a team of neural networks, AI algorithms, and robots. Robotart's founder, Andrew Conru, told MIT Technology Review that this year's entries have shown refined brushstrokes and composition. "CloudPainter, the winner this year, has been involved all three years and has made the most improvement in his system," he says. "The resulting work, while it still uses an inputted photo as reference, can execute paintings using different painting styles."

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The new sharks coming to UK waters BBC News | Science/Nature | UK Edition(cached at July 17, 2018, 7:30 pm)

Research suggests new kinds of shark could migrate to UK waters as the oceans warm.