The New York Times reports: Ever since the race to develop a coronavirus vaccine began last spring, upbeat announcements were stalked by ominous polls: No matter how encouraging the news, growing numbers of people said they would refuse to get the shot... But over the past few weeks, as the vaccine went from a hypothetical to a reality, something happened. Fresh surveys show attitudes shifting and a clear majority of Americans now eager to get vaccinated. In polls by Gallup, the Kaiser Family Foundation and the Pew Research Center, the portion of people saying they are now likely or certain to take the vaccine has grown from about 50 per cent this summer to more than 60 per cent, and in one poll 73 per cent — a figure that approaches what some public health experts say would be sufficient for herd immunity... [T]he attitude improvement is striking. A similar shift on another heated pandemic issue was reflected in a different Kaiser poll this month. It found that nearly 75 per cent of Americans are now wearing masks when they leave their homes. The change reflects a constellation of recent events: the uncoupling of the vaccine from Election Day; clinical trial results showing about 95 per cent efficacy and relatively modest side effects for the vaccines made by Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna; and the alarming surge in new coronavirus infections and deaths... The lure of the vaccines' modest quantities also can't be underestimated as a driver of desire, somewhat like the must-have frenzy generated by a limited-edition Christmas gift, according to public opinion experts... A barrage of feel-good media coverage, including rapt attention given to leading scientists and politicians when they get jabbed and joyous scrums surrounding local health care workers who become the first to be vaccinated, has amplified the excitement, public opinion experts say.

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Long-term Slashdot reader couchslug believes that "Howls of anguish from betrayed CentOS 8 users highlight the value of its long support cycles..." Earlier this month it was announced that at the end of 2021, the community-supported rebuild of Red Hat Enterprise Linux, CentOS 8, "will no longer be maintained," though CentOS 7 "will stick around in a supported maintenance state until 2024." This leads Slashdot reader couchslug to an interesting question. "Should competitors like Ubuntu and SUSE offer truly long-term-support versions to seize that (obviously large and thus important to widespread adoption) user base?" As distros become more refined, how important are changes vs. stability for users running tens, thousands and hundreds of thousands of servers, or who just want stability and security over change for its own sake...? Why do you think distro leadership are so eager for distro life cycles? Boredom, progress or what mix of both? What sayeth the hive mind and what distros do you use to achieve your goals? The original submission argues that "Distro-hopping is fun but people with work to do and a fixed task set have different needs." But what do Slashdot's readers thinks? Leave your own thoughts in the comments. And how long do you think a vendor should support a distro?

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America's Federal Aviation Agency signed an agreement with the state of Kansas's department of transportation to establish a 770-nautical mile Kansas Supersonic Transportation Corridor for testing aircraft up to Mach 3, reports Aviation International News: The agreement would provide a critical testing site for the emerging group of supersonic aircraft as civil supersonic flight remains banned over land. Flight testing for models such as Aerion's AS2 and Boom's Overture is expected this decade, while NASA noise trials with the Lockheed Martin X-59 demonstrator are anticipated by 2024. "This year marks 73 years since Chuck Yeager broke the sound barrier, and with this supersonic flight corridor Kansas will have a unique role in the next generation of supersonic transportation," said Sen. Jerry Moran (R-Kansas) in the announcement of the agreement... The General Aviation Manufacturers Association (GAMA) lauded the establishment of the corridor, saying it will help in the "re-birth" of civil supersonic travel. "The Kansas Supersonic Transportation Corridor will assist in the assessment of sound mitigating structural and engine designs as well as state of the art atmospheric acoustic modeling that eliminates the sonic boom and shapes the noise signature of an aircraft traveling faster than the speed of sound to a very low volume rumble," said GAMA president and CEO Pete Bunce. "The validation of these technological breakthroughs through the use of sophisticated ground acoustic and telemetry sensors will provide the necessary data to assist global regulators and policymakers in modernizing supersonic flight policies." NASA plans to use the Lockheed Martin X-59 demonstrator to test low-boom noise effects over various populations. "I'm really excited about quiet supersonic technology and its ability to be transformative for flight and our economy," said NASA Administrator Jim Bridenstine. Aerion, meanwhile, plans to test "Boom Cruise" technology that is designed to keep the sonic boom from reaching the ground with plans to begin flight trials in 2025, while Boom is looking at low boom technologies for its commercial airliner Overture.

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Reuters notes the "miraculous speed" of mRNA vaccines, while also calling it "a glimpse of what's possible if it can be applied post-pandemic to treat cancer or rare diseases." The vaccine market alone is worth about $35 billion each year, and investors apparently believe mRNA companies will capture around two-third of that, leading market researcher Bernstein to evalaute the combined worth of mRNA companies at nearly $180 billion. The technology is the closest thing yet to making medicine digital. MRNA vaccines essentially inject genetic code that instructs a recipients' cells to construct a part of the virus. The body recognizes the produced protein as foreign and mounts a future immune response when exposed. Moderna and BioNTech's vaccines show the technology works fast. Vaccines typically take a decade to develop. They took less than a year... The speed of mRNA therapeutics is a big advantage. For example, flu vaccines only reduce the risk of illness by up to 60% because makers must guess which strains will be prevalent each season. Sometimes they're wrong. Shaving months off means better guesses, and higher efficacy. The bigger opportunity comes from the validation of the mRNA "platform". Instructing cells to produce desired proteins could lead to multiple advances. Perhaps they can instruct the body to more vigorously attack cancerous cells or repair damaged tissue. Producing missing proteins might fight inherited diseases... Success against Covid-19 means these companies will be flush with cash from sales and attract partnerships and scientific talent. That should make 2021 a watershed.

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CNN reports: US officials and private sector experts investigating the massive data breach that has rocked Washington increasingly believe the attackers were ultimately discovered because they took a more aggressive "calculated risk" that led to a possible "unforced error" as they tried to expand their access within the network they had penetrated months earlier without detection, according to a US official and two sources familiar with the situation... FireEye was tipped off to the hackers' presence when they attempt to move laterally within the firm's network, according to the sources, a move that suggested the hackers were targeting sensitive data beyond emails addresses or business records. Whether that exposure was the result of a mistake by the attackers or because they took a calculated risk remains unclear, the sources said. "At some point, you have to risk some level of exposure when you're going laterally to get after the things that you really want to get. And you're going to take calculated risks as an attacker," one source familiar with the investigation said... Now, the hackers are attempting to salvage what access they can as the US government and private sector are "burning it all down," sources said, referring to their complete overhaul of networks, which will force the attackers to find new ways of getting the information they seek. Meanwhile, US officials continue to grapple with the fallout and assess just how successful the operation was, the US official said, noting that it is clear the nation-state responsible invested significant time and resources into the effort. While the scope of the hacking campaign remains unclear, government agencies that have disclosed they were impacted have said there is no evidence to date that classified data was compromised. But the way the hackers were discovered suggests the operation was intended to steal sensitive information beyond what was available on unclassified networks and sought to establish long-standing access to various targeted networks, the sources said. The fact that FireEye — not the federal government — discovered the breach has also raised questions about why the attack went undetected at US government agencies. The article also notes FireEye's acknowledgement that the breach "occurred when the hackers, who already had an employee's credentials, used those to register their own device to FireEye's multi-factor authentication system so they could receive the employee's unique access codes."

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Ananda Sharma, founder of the app Gyroscope, describes to a local TV station the monolith he discovered during a Christmas-morning jog under a candy-cane red sunrise. "I think I smelled it before I saw it..." He spotted a double rainbow and wanted to peek at that too. At first, he thought the monolith was "a big post," but as he got closer, he smelled the gingerbread scent wafting toward him. The monolith is standing in panels separated by icing... "It made me smile. SFGate spoke to another eye-witness: Alexis Gallagher also happened upon the sweet monolith at about 8:25 a.m. Friday morning, confirming it was made of gingerbread, frosting and gumdrops... "I had a closer look and it looks like there's a plywood skeleton underneath, but I try not to dwell on such mundane realities." Gallagher added that he had to "stop my dog from nibbling on it..." When reached for an official comment, the San Francisco Recreation and Parks Department General Manager told the TV news reporter that the gingerbread monolith "Looks like a great spot to get baked." Then he added more sternly that "we will leave it up until the cookie crumbles." But their article notes it raises several questions for Bay Area residents: Did Christmas-happy aliens beam it down from above? Did some rogue artificial intelligence escape a nearby Google campus, and, driven mad by our plethora of Christmas music...design an art piece to brighten our days? And just how expensive is it to rent a highrise apartment within its crumbly, ginger-pungent walls...? SFGate's report ends with Ananda Sharma noting that it began raining in San Francisco at 11:30 a.m., adding, "not sure what happens to gingerbread in the rain but it probably isn't good."

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"A fake Queen Elizabeth danced across TV screens on Christmas as part of a 'deepfake' speech aired by a British broadcaster," reports CNN: The broadcaster said the video was supposed to offer "a stark warning about the advanced technology that is enabling the proliferation of misinformation and fake news in a digital age." Channel 4 annually accompanies the Queen's traditional speech with an "alternative Christmas message." This message has been aired since 1993. It has long attracted controversy. Previous people to have delivered the alternative speech include Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, the former president of Iran. Other notable invitees include US whistleblower Edward Snowden, Jesse Jackson and the children who survived the 2017 Grenfell Tower fire. But the 2020 iteration is rather different. This year Channel 4 hired VFX studio Framestore to create a fake Queen Elizabeth, who spoke candidly about personal matters. The video was manipulated using artificial intelligence technology. The deepfake Queen discusses Prince Harry and Meghan's move to North America, saying: "There are few things more hurtful than someone telling you they prefer the company of Canadians." The fake Queen also performed a Tik Tok dance routine... In her real Christmas message, the Queen commended frontline workers for their efforts during the pandemic and offered condolences to families who were unable to celebrate together due to coronavirus-related restrictions. Channel 4 described their video as a "comedic parody," saying it raised an important question. "Is what we see and hear always as it seems?"

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I'm surprised I'm not a character in someone's book, yet.

Also I feel loyalty to Melo. I thought he was a bad choice for the Knicks, all through his career in NY, but how can you not feel affection for a man who keeps coming back, presumably because he loves playing. I hope that's it. I wish he had the humility back then that he has now. He might not have objected to Lin, who anyone would have to admit was good for a team that was going nowhere, both before and after.

I got a pointer from Lew Perin to a NYT article about how the Nets have Mike D'Antoni and Amar'e Stoudemeyer on their coaching staff this year, supporting Steve Nash. I do have respect for Mike D, and of course Amar'e. But I have a feeling about the NBA this year that isn't too good. It isn't just the Nets, it's also the Lakers, who went from nowhere to champions. The Clippers. Harden. Etc. And Kyrie Irving who was too good to play for the Celtics, I guess. Basketball is a team sport, that's what's beautiful about it to me, but we aren't rooting for teams anymore, the franchises are the players. That's fine, I guess -- good for them, but the only player I've felt loyalty to in the NBA recently is Jeremy Lin, and he's playing in the G league for Golden State this year. And at this point there isn't much left there, anyway -- other than the bitterness at how the Knicks screwed it up. Maybe something will happen, no one saw Linsanity coming, so there's always hope.

Today's song: Mandolin Wind.

Before you complain about 2020, you may tempt whoever decides these things to make next year even more interesting. Remember we thought there could never be a year worse than 2016.

Weighing up to 380,000 pounds and stretching some 100 feet long, the blue whale -- the largest creature to have ever lived on Earth -- might at first seem difficult for human eyes and ears to miss. But a previously unknown population of the leviathans has long been lurking in the Indian Ocean, leaving scientists none the wiser, new research suggests. From a report: The covert cadre of whales, described in a paper published last week in the journal Endangered Species Research, has its own signature anthem: a slow, bellowing ballad that's distinct from any other whale song ever described. It joins only a dozen or so other blue whale songs that have been documented, each the calling card of a unique population. "It's like hearing different songs within a genre -- Stevie Ray Vaughan versus B. B. King," said Salvatore Cerchio, a marine mammal biologist at the African Aquatic Conservation Fund in Massachusetts and the study's lead author. "It's all blues, but you know the different styles." The find is "a great reminder that our oceans are still this very unexplored place," said Asha de Vos, a marine biologist who has studied blue whales in the Indian Ocean but was not involved in the new study. Dr. Cerchio and his colleagues first tuned into the whales' newfound song while in scientific pursuit of a pod of Omura's whales off the coast of Madagascar several years ago. After hearing the rumblings of blue whales via a recorder planted on the coastal shelf, the researchers decided to drop their instruments into deeper water in the hopes of eavesdropping further. A number of blue whale populations, each with its own characteristic croon, have long been known to visit this pocket of the Indian Ocean, Dr. Cerchio said. But one of the songs that crackled through the team's Madagascar recordings was unlike any the researchers had heard.

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Lewis Hamilton isn't just the world's most successful F1 driver, he's also a key backer of a new off-road electric vehicle racing series called Extreme E.