Google has announced that it will not host an in-person I/O 2020 over coronavirus concerns. The company is looking into an alternative format. 9to5Google reports: Google I/O 2020 was announced in January, with the ticket application and drawing process taking place late last month. Hosted at the Shoreline Amphitheatre in Mountain View, it's right across the street from the Googleplex headquarters. "Due to concerns around the coronavirus (COVID-19), and in accordance with health guidance from the CDC, WHO, and other health authorities, we have decided to cancel the physical Google I/O event at Shoreline Amphitheatre," reads a statement on the Google I/O website. Those that purchased tickets will be fully refunded by March 13, while registered guests this year will automatically be able to purchase I/O 2021 passes. Looking forward, the company is going to "explore other ways to evolve Google I/O to best connect with our developer community." At this time, Google does not look to be committing to the original May 12-14 timeframe. Meanwhile, Google will be providing $1 million to local Mountain View organizations to help with the lack of I/O and its over 7,000 attendees. This is specifically aimed at helping raise awareness about the coronavirus, as well as aiding small businesses, increasing STEM education, and supporting organizations working with unhoused neighbors.

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John Gruber spotted this announcement on decades old Apple news aggregation site MacSurfer's website: Dear MHN Readers: Not seeing a viable future with subscriptions, MacSurfer and TechNN will cease operations effective immediately. Please allow a few weeks to process forthcoming refunds. If need be, subscription inquiries can be addressed to the Publisher at the bottom of the Homepage. Thanks kindly for your support, and thanks for the memories... Further reading: Adios, MacSurfer.

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Caitlin McGarry, reporting for Gizmodo: There are currently 342 potential borrowers waiting for 197 digital copies of Ronan Farrow's investigative thriller Catch and Kill at the Los Angeles Public Library. [...] Why can only one person borrow one copy of an ebook at a time? Why are the waits so damn interminable? Well, it might not surprise you at all to learn that ebook lending is controversial in certain circles: circles of people who like to make money selling ebooks. Publishers impose rules on libraries that limit how many people can check out an ebook, and for how long a library can even offer that ebook on its shelves, because free, easily available ebooks could potentially damage their bottom lines. Libraries are handcuffed by two-year ebook licenses that cost way more than you and I pay to own an ebook outright forever. Ebooks could theoretically circulate throughout public library systems forever, preserving books that could otherwise disappear when they go out of print -- after all, ebooks can't get damaged or lost. And multiple library-goers could technically check out one ebook simultaneously if publishers allowed. But the Big Five have contracts in place that limit ebook availability with high prices -- much higher than regular folks pay per ebook -- and short-term licenses. The publishers don't walk in and demand librarians hand over the ebooks or pay up, but they do just...disappear. "You think about Harvard Library or New York Public Library -- these big systems that, in addition to lending out stuff for people to use, are also the places where we look to preserve our heritage forever," said Alan Inouye, the American Library Association's senior director of public policy and government relations. "You can't do that if it's a two-year license."

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What sense does it make to stimulate an economy that will be crippled by lack of parts and workers? The economy will shrink, no way to avoid that. Maybe we'll need stimulus later, once (hopefully) people are back at work.

A tally of the number of people tested for the novel coronavirus disappeared from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention website on Monday. From a report: The change was first reported by journalist Judd Legum on Twitter. The disappearance of the numbers comes less than a week after the first cases of the virus with unknown origins were reported in the US. In the past few days, six deaths due to COVID-19, the disease caused by the virus, have been confirmed in Washington state.

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The Silicon Valley venture capitalist Keith Rabois, onstage in January at a tech conference, said his first choice for president was a Democrat, Pete Buttigieg. And, sure, it would be a close call for Joseph R. Biden Jr. over President Trump. But Bernie Sanders? The New York Times: At that, Mr. Rabois, who has been a top executive at or invested in LinkedIn, Square, Yelp and PayPal, balked. Speaking to the crowd, he drew the line at democratic socialism. (Mr. Buttigieg ended his campaign on Sunday night.) "I would certainly vote for Trump over Sanders," Mr. Rabois declared. When it comes to the 2020 Democratic primaries, with California poised to allocate hundreds of delegates this week on Super Tuesday, many tech leaders in Silicon Valley have a plea: Anyone but Sanders. From venture capitalists to chief executives, the tech elite are favoring moderates like Mr. Buttigieg and Michael R. Bloomberg. And with Mr. Sanders, the independent senator from Vermont, leading the field in California and looking like the front-runner for the nomination, the tone among the leadership is growing more urgent. Few tech executives want to end up stuck choosing between Mr. Sanders and Mr. Trump. Meanwhile, tech company workers are gathering en masse for Mr. Sanders. While Silicon Valley has long leaned blue, the chasm between centrist Democrats and an animated left wing has created uncertainty. And now two other things are happening. California Republicans see an opportunity. And a new moderate party in the state -- the Common Sense Party -- is rising.

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When the WSJ gets an important story in the public interest down comes the paywall. But when do they publish a story that isn't in the public interest? So news is socialist too.

China's largest cyber-security vendor has published today a report accusing the CIA of hacking Chinese companies and government agencies for more than 11 years. From a report: The report, authored by Qihoo 360, claims the CIA hacked targets in China's aviation industry, scientific research institutions, petroleum industry, Internet companies, and government agencies. CIA hacking operations took place between September 2008 and June 2019, and most of the targets were located in Beijing, Guangdong, and Zhejiang, Qihoo researchers said. Qihoo claims that a large part of the CIA's hacking efforts focused on the civil aviation industry, both in China and in other countries. The Chinese security firm claims the purpose of this campaign was "long-term and targeted intelligence-gathering" for the purpose of tracking "real-time global flight status, passenger information, trade freight and other related information."

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"The best-kept secret in quantum computing." That's what Cambridge Quantum Computing (CQC) CEO Ilyas Khan called Honeywell's efforts in building the world's most powerful quantum computer. In a race where most of the major players are vying for attention, Honeywell has quietly worked on its efforts for the last few years (and under strict NDA's, it seems). But today, the company announced a major breakthrough that it claims will allow it to launch the world's most powerful quantum computer within the next three months. From a report: In addition, Honeywell also today announced that it has made strategic investments in CQC and Zapata Computing, both of which focus on the software side of quantum computing. The company has also partnered with JPMorgan Chase to develop quantum algorithms using Honeywell's quantum computer. The company also recently announced a partnership with Microsoft. Honeywell has long built the kind of complex control systems that power many of the world's largest industrial sites. It's that kind of experience that has now allowed it to build an advanced ion trap that is at the core of its efforts. This ion trap, the company claims in a paper that accompanies today's announcement, has allowed the team to achieve decoherence times that are significantly longer than those of its competitors.

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Idea for Mike Bloomberg. Hire some smart ex-CDC people and have them solve the testing problem in the US. Commit say $1 billion to the effort.

Demo of a new feature on my blog. Spoilers are now hidden behind a placeholder. This is how it works. Warning there's a spoiler in this video about how spoilers work. Not kidding. If you haven't seen The Expanse and think you might, you should avert your eyes at the right moment in this video. Sorry!

There are robots on the prowl at Facebook's server farms. The social networking giant has quietly built a fleet of mobile robots to patrol its data centers, and now has a team dedicated to automating its vast network of facilities around the globe, Business Insider reported Tuesday. From the report: The high-tech initiative could boost the firm's profits and help revolutionize the data center industry -- and potentially prompt job losses around the country. As Facebook has grown, it has built out a sprawling network of data centers around the globe dedicated to hosting users' content and supporting its apps and services. Its locations now stretch from Oregon to Sweden to Singapore -- but maintaining the vast facilities requires human data center operators and engineers to manage the systems, replace malfunctioning drives, and so on.

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Twitter is "strongly encouraging" its almost 5,000 global employees to work from home due to concerns over the spread of the Covid-19 coronavirus, the company said Monday. From a report: The social media company made the suggestion as part of a blog update one day after it suspended all non-critical travel for workers, including pulling out of the South by Southwest conference scheduled for later this month in Austin, Texas. Twitter says it's mandatory for employees in Hong Kong, Japan and South Korea to work from home, but that other offices will remain open for those who choose or need to come in. "We are working to make sure internal meetings, all hands, and other important tasks are optimized for remote participation," the company wrote on its blog. Twitter's policy on working from home is a step beyond what most companies in the U.S. are doing as the virus spreads.

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Wonder if they're testing people at the White House. What are the chances that it's a hot spot for transmission? Lots of people coming and going.

After many attempts, I'm now rolling on The Expanse. In the middle of season 2, and I more or less understand who the characters are and what they're doing. I don't know why it took so many tries to get it. Warning here come spoilers. I am sure that Julie Mao and Miller are melding into some kind of incredible love monster whose body is the planet of Venus.