An anonymous reader quotes a report from Polygon: In August, Facebook announced that consumers who use its Oculus virtual reality headsets would be required to log in with their Facebook accounts in order to play games. The transition went into effect earlier this month, and it comes with a catch. If at any point you decide to delete your Facebook account, you immediately forfeit your access to any games or VR experiences you purchased through the Oculus store. The gotcha was spotted last week, and began to surface first on Twitter, only to be confirmed Friday by the team at UploadVR. According to Facebook, those who create a new Oculus account will be required to use their Facebook credentials. Those who previously used a separate username and password to access the Oculus store have two years before the transition will be forced upon them. Once users flip the switch, they're bound by a new end-user license agreement that formally entangles their VR purchases and their Facebook account. "Deleting your Facebook account will also delete your Oculus information," warns Facebook in the Deactivation and Deletion section of its iOS app. "This includes your app purchases and your achievements. You will no longer be able to return any apps and will lose any existing store credits."

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First a story...

• I once lived on a narrow road, so narrow there was barely room for two cars. When approaching an oncoming car on this narrow lane, at first, when I was a newbie to the neighborhood, I’d do the neighborly thing and move over to the right to make room. Always, the other car wouldn’t budge, so I’d have to pull off the road and slow to a stop. I found this frustrating of course, an example of selfish, Republican-like behavior.
• So then I altered my procedure. When I saw a car approaching, I would still move off the to right, but if they didn't mirror my move, I'd veer to the left, directly into their path. This makes my car look bigger, and more of a threat to them. No need to honk my horn. The action is enough. Immediately, the other car always moves to the side, and I then move to my side, and we pass each other, both fully on the road, and going at normal speed.
• I assume these are otherwise good people who are selfish, like most people are, and will see your offer to get out of their way as weakness, and they'll just plow through you. Like Republicans. If you show you are selfish too, they'll negotiate for a win-win.

Soooo, this is where we are. The Repubs walk all over the Dems. But if you love America, you have to vote Democratic, because the Repubs are crazy fascists. We have to teach the Dems how to be hardass motherfuckers, and insist that they have a head-on collision with the Repubs so they respect them, and in doing so, respect us.

We are right now poised to lose our system of government. Okay, we accept that. Let's go all the way. The Supreme Court is already tainted. Let's just go ahead and call them illegitimate. The line was crossed not with the new justice but with Kavanaugh. The moment he spouted Clinton conspiracy theories in his confirmation hearing was the moment I realized the enemy isn't just in the Oval Office, but in the Supreme Court too. We need to either get Kavanaugh and his ilk off the Court, to re-establish its legitimacy, or so dilute their vote as to make them irrelevant.

People say oh if you pack the court, the Repubs will do the same when they take power again. Fine. So we'll stack the court for them too. Instead of just adding four or six new justices, let's add 1000 new judges. All of them card-carrying members of the ACLU, Planned Parenthood and the Democratic Party. The Repubs will ignore their decisions when they're in power, and the Dems will ignore the current 6-3 court which, I would like to add, in no way represents the people of the United States. We don't like Citizens United, we want the Voting Rights Act back in force (obviously) and we want the three justices appointed by the criminal traitor Trump removed immediately, or else we'll add 100000 new justices, starting right now.

If you don't like crazy, dear Republicans, then stop being crazy. And fuck off, we don't give a shit what you think. We love your tears. When you cry we are happy. Thank you very much.

Poland's biggest computer game maker has delayed the launch of Cyberpunk 2077 for a third time, as it seeks to ensure the compatibility of its awaited product for current and next-generation consoles. From a report: CD Projekt SA has set a new release date on Dec. 10, and won't be able to keep its earlier scheduled premiere on Nov. 19, the studio said in regulatory filing on Tuesday. The management said it had "undercalculated" the time needed to complete the game since the title passed certification earlier this month. "First and foremost, please accept our humble apologies," Co-Chief Executive Officer and Co-Founder Marcin Iwinski and CD Projekt RED studio's head Adam Badowski said on Twitter. "We feel we have an amazing game on our hands and we are willing to make every decision, ever the hardest ones, if it ultimately leads to you getting a video game you'll fall in love with." [...] The new date for launch of Cyberpunk, a role playing game set in dystopian urban environment, is scheduled weeks after planned launch of Microsoft Xbox Series X and Sony Playstation 5 consoles. It will also be behind many other gaming premieres planned in November as developers hope that gamers' propensity to spend will increase together with the first deliveries of new gaming equipment.

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An anonymous reader shares a column: In the distant past, there was a proverbial "digital divide" that bifurcated workers into those who knew how to use computers and those who didn't. Young Gen Xers and their later millennial companions grew up with Power Macs and Wintel boxes, and that experience made them native users on how to make these technologies do productive work. Older generations were going to be wiped out by younger workers who were more adaptable to the needs of the modern digital economy, upending our routine notion that professional experience equals value. Of course, that was just a narrative. Facility with using computers was determined by the ability to turn it on and log in, a bar so low that it can be shocking to the modern reader to think that a "divide" existed at all. Software engineering, computer science and statistics remained quite unpopular compared to other academic programs, even in universities, let alone in primary through secondary schools. Most Gen Xers and millennials never learned to code, or frankly, even to make a pivot table or calculate basic statistical averages. There's a sociological change underway though, and it's going to make the first divide look quaint in hindsight. Over the past two or so years, we have seen the rise of a whole class of software that has been broadly (and quite inaccurately) dubbed "no-code platforms." These tools are designed to make it much easier for users to harness the power of computing in their daily work. That could be everything from calculating the most successful digital ad campaigns given some sort of objective function, or perhaps integrating a computer vision library into a workflow that calculates the number of people entering or exiting a building. The success and notoriety of these tools comes from the feeling that they grant superpowers to their users. Projects that once took a team of engineers some hours to build can now be stitched together in a couple of clicks through a user interface. That's why young startups like Retool can raise at nearly a $1 billion valuation and Airtable at $2.6 billion, while others like Bildr, Shogun, Bubble, Stacker and dozens more are getting traction among users.

Read more of this story at Slashdot.

I was driving up Rock City Road earlier, and there were all these cars parked on the side of the road, and I had no idea what they were there for. I thought maybe someone famous had died, but no, they were all there to vote. The line was very long. Proud of Woodstock.

Japan will be carbon neutral by 2050, its prime minister said this week, making an ambitious pledge to sharply accelerate the country's global warming targets, even as it plans to build more than a dozen new coal-burning power plants in the coming years. From a report: The prime minister, Yoshihide Suga, laid out the goal during his first major policy speech since taking office in September, when Japan's longest-serving leader, Shinzo Abe, abruptly resigned. The announcement came just weeks after China, Japan's regional rival, said it would reduce its net carbon emissions to zero by 2060. Addressing Japan's Parliament, Mr. Suga called for the country to "be carbon neutral in 2050," a declaration that drew loud applause from lawmakers. Achieving that goal will be good not only for the world, he said, but also for Japan's economy and global standing. "Taking an aggressive approach to global warming will bring about a transformation in our industrial structure and economic system that will lead to big growth" in the economy, he said, answering critics who have warned of the economic consequences. Japan's new climate pledge is a major upgrade of its previous commitment to reducing greenhouse gases, and necessary if the world hopes to keep a global temperature rise well below 2 degrees, as called for in the 2015 Paris climate accord.

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There was one question on the local Woodstock town ballot, whether to fund a new library building. I voted yes. This is a very hot local issue. I see signs all over town on the issue. I read the posts in the local Facebook groups. And while I'm new here, I am a taxpayer, and I will have to pay more property taxes to support the new library. Here's why I voted yes. If the librarians want a new library, give it to them. They know what the town needs. They are the most selfless, idealistic people, by profession. Librarians helped me a lot when I was a kid. I think this is what taxes are for. Funding libraries is directly related to the quality of life in a town.

Antibodies against the novel coronavirus declined rapidly in the British population during the summer, a study found on Tuesday, suggesting protection after infection may not be long lasting and raising the prospect of waning immunity in the community. From a report: Scientists at Imperial College London have tracked antibody levels in the British population following the first wave of COVID-19 infections in March and April. Their study found that antibody prevalence fell by a quarter, from 6% of the population around the end of June to just 4.4% in September. That raises the prospect of decreasing population immunity ahead of a second wave of infections in recent weeks that has forced local lockdowns and restrictions. Although immunity to the novel coronavirus is a complex and murky area, and may be assisted by T cells, as well as B cells that can stimulate the quick production of antibodies following re-exposure to the virus, the researchers said the experience of other coronaviruses suggested immunity might not be enduring.

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The UK's mobile networks are to be forbidden from selling phones locked to their services from December 2021. From a report: Regulator Ofcom said unlocking handsets could often be a complicated process, and this was discouraging owners from switching providers at the end of their contracts. The networks have previously suggested that locking devices helps deter theft and fraud. But the watchdog noted some companies had already abandoned the practice. Among those companies affected are: BT and its EE mobile division, Vodafone, Tesco Mobile, O2, Sky, Three and Virgin already only sell unlocked handsets. "[It] will save people time, money and effort -- and help them unlock better deals," said Ofcom's connectivity director Selina Chadha. Vodafone has already responded: "We stand ready to implement these changes when they come into force." EE added: "We'll work with Ofcom to comply with its guidelines."

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The U.S. Federal Communications Commission voted 3-2 on Tuesday to maintain its 2017 repeal of Obama-era net neutrality rules, even after a federal court directed a review of some provisions of the repeal. From a report: The 2015 net neutrality rules barred internet service providers (ISPs) from blocking or slowing internet content or offering paid "fast lanes." Under President Donald Trump, the 2017 FCC order granted ISPs sweeping powers to recast how Americans use the internet, as long as they disclose changes. A federal appeals court in October 2019 largely upheld the FCC's repeal of the rules, but ordered the agency to reconsider the repeal's impact on public safety; regulations on attachments to utility poles; and the FCC's ability to provide subsidies for broadband service. The FCC majority opted to leave the order unchanged.

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T-Mobile is taking an aggressive new swing at the U.S. pay-TV sector, threatening to further roil the market's dynamics: The carrier announced a new suite of TVision internet packages, available nationwide, that start at just $10 per month. From a report: With the new over-the-top TV play, T-Mobile wants to attract cord-cutters -- and also poach existing cable and satellite TV customers who are fed up with traditional pay TV's high prices and restrictive channel packaging. The TVision services are available in-home and also on wireless apps virtually anywhere in the U.S. T-Mobile also is introducing TVision Hub, a $50 Android TV-based adapter (with a remote) that plugs into the back of an HDTV to provide access to the TVision OTT services and 8,000-plus apps including Netflix and YouTube. "People sure love TV -- but they sure don't love their TV provider," T-Mobile CEO Mike Sievert said in livestream announcing the TVision lineup. He said incumbent cable and satellite TV providers are holding customers "hostage," because they bundle in "live news and sports with hundreds of other channels you don't want."

Read more of this story at Slashdot.

AmiMoJo writes: Link previews are a ubiquitous feature found in just about every chat and messaging app, and with good reason. They make online conversations easier by providing images and text associated with the file that's being linked. Unfortunately, they can also leak our sensitive data, consume our limited bandwidth, drain our batteries, and, in one case, expose links in chats that are supposed to be end-to-end encrypted. Among the worst offenders, according to research published on Monday, were messengers from Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, and Line. [...] Facebook Messenger and Instagram both downloaded a 2.6GB test file, as well as executing arbitrary Javascript code on their servers. When informed of this Facebook (which owns Instagram) said that was the intended behaviour, even though it could be used to e.g. hijack their servers for cryptocurrency mining. The three best messaging platforms were Signal, WhatsApp, Threema and iMessage, at least in terms of properly protecting your personal data.

Read more of this story at Slashdot.

A group of search engines from around the world are banding together to demand European Union regulators address Google's dominance in the online search market. They are also urging the EU to take a closer look at Google's controversial auction process. From a report: The news comes hot on the heels of the U.S. Department of Justice's (DOJ) antitrust case, which formally launched last week. The suit alleges that Google violates anti-competition laws by crowding out rivals in the internet search and advertising markets. DuckDuckGo (U.S.), Ecosia (Germany), Lilo and Qwant (France), and Seznam (Czech Republic) have penned an open letter to European Commission executive VP Margrethe Vestager asking her to take a "renewed look" at the policing of Google's search market dominance. As an initial step, the companies are calling for a trilateral meeting between themselves, the European Commission (EC), and Google to look at the issue of search engine competition in Europe and elsewhere. More specifically, Google's smaller rivals want to establish a more "effective preference menu," giving Android users an easier way to choose a default search engine when setting up their device for the first time.

Read more of this story at Slashdot.

First a story...

• I once lived on a narrow road, so narrow there was barely room for two cars. When approaching an oncoming car on this narrow lane, at first, when I was a newbie to the neighborhood, I’d do the neighborly thing and move over to the right to make room. Always, the other car wouldn’t budge, so I’d have to pull off the road and slow to a stop. I found this frustrating of course, an example of selfish, Republican-like behavior.
• So then I altered my procedure. When I saw a car approaching, I would still move off the to right, but if they didn't mirror my move, I'd veer to the left, directly into their path. This makes my car look bigger, and more of a threat to them. No need to honk my horn. The action is enough. Immediately, the other car always moves to the side, and I then move to my side, and we pass each other, both fully on the road, and going at normal speed.
• I assume these are otherwise good people who are selfish, like most people are, and will see your offer to get out of their way as weakness, and they'll just plow through you. Like Republicans. If you show you are selfish too, they'll negotiate for a win-win.

Soooo, this is where we are. The Repubs walk all over the Dems. But if you love America, you have to vote Democratic, because the Repubs are crazy fascists. We have to teach the Dems how to be hardass motherfuckers, and insist that they have a head-on collision with the Repubs so they respect them, and in doing so, respect us.

We are right now poised to lose our system of government. Okay, we accept that. Let's go all the way. The Supreme Court is already very very very tainted. Let's just go ahead and call them illegitimate. The line was crossed not with the new justice but with Kavanaugh. The moment he spouted Clinton conspiracy theories in his confirmation hearing was the moment I realized the enemy isn't just in the Oval Office, but in the Supreme Court too. We need to either get Kavanaugh and his ilk off the Court, to re-establish its legitimacy, or so dilute their vote as to make them irrelevant.

People say oh if you pack the court, the Repubs will do the same when they take power again. Fine. So we'll stack the court for them too. Instead of just adding four or six new justices, let's add 1000 new judges. All of them card-carrying members of the ACLU, Planned Parenthood and the Democratic Party. The Repubs will ignore their decisions when they're in power, and the Dems will ignore the current 6-3 court which, I would like to add, in no way represents the people of the United States. We don't like Citizens United, we want the Voting Rights Act back in force (obviously) and we want the three justices appointed by the criminal traitor Trump removed immediately, or else we'll add 100000 new justices, starting right now.

If you don't like crazy, dear Republicans, then stop being crazy. And fuck off, we don't give a shit what you think. We love your tears. When you cry we are happy. Thank you very much.

Campaigners fear that a body designed to protect the environment is being undermined.