An anonymous reader quotes a report from Motherboard: All of the major carriers made a significant change to how SMS messages are routed to prevent hackers being able to easily reroute a target's texts, according to an announcement from Aerialink, a communications company that helps route text messages. The move comes after a Motherboard investigation in which a hacker, with minimal effort, paid $16 to reroute our text messages and then used that ability to break into a number of online accounts, including Postmates, WhatsApp, and Bumble, exposing a gaping hole in the country's telecommunications infrastructure. "The Number Registry has announced that wireless carriers will no longer be supporting SMS or MMS text enabling on their respective wireless numbers," the March 25 announcement from Aerialink, reads. The announcement adds that the change is "industry-wide" and "affects all SMS providers in the mobile ecosystem." "Be aware that Verizon, T-Mobile and AT&T have reclaimed overwritten text-enabled wireless numbers industry-wide. As a result, any Verizon, T-Mobile or AT&T wireless numbers which had been text-enabled as BYON no longer route messaging traffic through the Aerialink Gateway," the announcement adds, referring to Bring Your Own Number.

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Scotland has narrowly missed a target to generate the equivalent of 100% of its electricity demand from renewables in 2020. New figures reveal it reached 97.4% from renewable sources. From a report: This target was set in 2011, when renewable technologies generated just 37% of national demand. Industry body Scottish Renewables said output had tripled in the last 10 years, with enough power for the equivalent of seven million households. Chief executive Claire Mack, said: "Scotland's climate change targets have been a tremendous motivator to the industry to increase deployment of renewable energy sources. "Renewable energy projects are displacing tens of millions of tonnes of carbon every year, employing the equivalent of 17,700 people and bringing enormous socio-economic benefits to communities." In 2019 Scotland met 90.1% of its equivalent electricity consumption from renewables, according to Scottish Government figures. Scotland has some of the most ambitious climate targets in the world, with its Climate Change Bill setting out a legally binding target of reaching net-zero emissions by 2045. By 2030, ministers want renewable energy generation to account for 50% of energy demand across electricity, heat and transport.

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The ACLU will be seeking information about how the government is using artificial intelligence in national security, Axios reported Friday. From a report: The development of AI has major implications for security, surveillance, and justice. The ACLU's request may help shed some light on the government's often opaque applications of AI. Later today the ACLU will be filing a broad Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request to the CIA, the NSA, the Department of Homeland Security and other agencies concerning the government's use of AI, especially in the area of national security. "The problem with these AI systems is that they're black boxes," says Patrick Toomey, senior staff attorney at the ACLU National Security Project. "The public needs to know exactly what kinds of fundamental decisions about our lives the government is handing over to AI." The ACLU is specifically concerned about "vetting and screening processes in agencies like Homeland Security, and tools that can analyze voice, data and video," says Toomey. Another area of concern is the possibility that AI systems could be "biased against people of color, women and marginalized communities," he adds. "AI systems could be used to supercharge government activities to unfairly scrutinize communities through intrusive surveillance, questioning and even detention and watchlisting."

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Security researchers say a powerful new Android malware masquerading as a critical system update can take complete control of a victim's device and steal their data. From a report: The malware was found bundled in an app called "System Update" that had to be installed outside of Google Play, the app store for Android devices. Once installed by the user, the app hides and stealthily exfiltrates data from the victim's device to the operator's servers. Researchers at mobile security firm Zimperium, which discovered the malicious app, said once the victim installs the malicious app, the malware communicates with the operator's Firebase server, used to remotely control the device. The spyware can steal messages, contacts, device details, browser bookmarks and search history, record calls and ambient sound from the microphone, and take photos using the phone's cameras. The malware also tracks the victim's location, searches for document files and grabs copied data from the device's clipboard. The malware hides from the victim and tries to evade capture by reducing how much network data it consumes by uploading thumbnails to the attacker's servers rather than the full image. The malware also captures the most up-to-date data, including location and photos.

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We can't impeach the NYT no matter how much they betray our trust.

An F-35B Joint Strike Fighter shot itself in the skies above Arizona earlier this month, doing at least $2.5 million in damage. The pilot was unharmed and successfully landed the jet. The Pentagon isn't quite sure how or why the jet shot itself and the incident is still under investigation. From a report: As first reported by Military.com, the F-35 was flying in a training mission at night on March 12 at the Yuman Range Complex in Arizona when it shot itself. This particular F-35 has an externally mounted gatling gun that fires a 25mm armor piercing high explosive round. Sometime during the training, the gun discharged and the round exploded, damaging the underside of the jet. The pilot landed the jet and a Navy investigation classified the accident as Class A. Class A accidents are the most severe, it's a classification used when someone in the weapon dies, the whole jet is lost, or the property damage is $2.5 million or greater. "The mishap did not result in any injury to personnel, and an investigation of the incident is currently taking place," Marine Corps spokesperson Captain Andrew Wood told Military.com. The F-35 is the most expensive weapon ever built. Just one of the B variants, flown by the U.S. Marine Corps, costs around $135.8 million. The total cost for the entire F-35 program is estimated to be more than a $1 trillion over the course of the program's lifetime. The expensive jet has been plagued by problems since Lockheed Martin began manufacturing them in 2006. In May 2020, an F-35 costing $175 million landed too hard and "rolled, caught fire, and was completely destroyed," according to an Air Force accident report. The accident report gave several reasons for the crash, including the F-35's speciality helmet and its inability to deliver oxygen properly to the pilot.

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Amazon has scrapped a plan to use new high-tech surveillance cameras to verify whether its delivery drivers are wearing face masks on the job. From a report: The internet retail giant is in the process of installing the cameras -- which will use artificial intelligence to identify driver drowsiness, distracted driving and other risky behavior -- in its vast fleet of Amazon-branded delivery vans in the U.S., a move Amazon says is aimed at improving safety. In a recent training video for drivers, Amazon listed one previously unreported form of driver behavior it planned to use the cameras to check for -- "face mask compliance" -- according to an image of the video viewed by The Information. But after receiving questions from The Information about the plan, Amazon said it would no longer use the cameras to make sure drivers are wearing masks. The company said it made the change because its policy doesn't require drivers to wear face masks when they are alone in their vans.

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Facebook will start to reopen its Silicon Valley offices beginning in May, a signal the technology industry may return -- at least in part -- to the office after more than a year of working from home during the global pandemic. From a report: Facebook will begin by opening Bay Area offices at just 10% capacity, and expects that its largest offices, including its headquarters in Menlo Park, California, won't reach 50% capacity until early September. Employees have been able to work remotely since offices were closed last spring, and will be allowed to continue doing so until a month after their office returns to 50% capacity, a spokesperson said.

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Spectrum isn't finished with me. Yesterday they turned off my TV service. Not clear why. But after a long day's work I had to have four separate phone conversations with their reps, over three hours, to get it working again. I paid my bill, etc. They just have no idea what they're doing imho. Anyway, Spectrum is making me buy an AppleTV in order to watch the Knicks. The AppleTV will stay in its box and go into a closet, where I will pay a monthly fee for it. I already have two AppleTVs, and I don't use either one. Too many remotes, too many different UIs. Once i get over the sheer waste of it, the price is actually competitive. YouTubeTV costs about the same, w/o the AppleTV. And YTTV does not have the Knicks. Where I live there is no other way to get the Knicks. I actually think this is true for the entire NY area. And before you tell me about Fubo, they don't have the Knicks either.

President Joe Biden on Thursday announced a new goal of having 200 million Covid vaccination shots being distributed within his first 100 days in office. From a report: "I know it's ambitious -- twice our original goal -- but no other country in the world has come close ... to what we're doing," Biden told reporters as he opened his first news conference as president. "I believe we can do it." As of Friday, 100 million coronavirus vaccinations had been given since Biden was inaugurated. That benchmark -- which Biden set as his original target Dec. 8 -- was reached on his 59th day in office. After a slower-than-expected rollout under former President Donald Trump, the pace of vaccinations in the United States has rapidly increased and has been averaging about 2.5 million doses per day in the past week. If that vaccination rate is maintained, Biden's 200-million-dose target would be hit in about five weeks, or around April 23 -- a full week before Biden would mark 100 days in the White House. The federal government has a deal with Johnson & Johnson for delivery of 200 million doses. The first half of that order expected by the end of June. Merck is helping to make J&J's shot, which is a single-dose vaccination.

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When I lived in California people would always ask "Why is he like that?" The answer may simply be that I'm from New York. NYers are just as likely to tell you to fuck off as to say good morning or have a nice day. They mean basically the same thing. It's like "namaste" -- the divinity in my being acknowledges the divinity in yours. When you're in California you have to tone it down, a lot, or they'll kill you with passive aggressiveness. NYers are more transparent. You don't have to guess how they feel about something as much.

Sam Blake, writing at Wolfram Blog: The Zodiac Killer (an unidentified American serial killer active during the 1960s and 70s) sent numerous taunting letters to the press in the San Francisco area with regard to a local murder spree. In these letters, the killer took responsibility for the crimes and threatened to commit further murders. He also included three ciphers, each containing one-third of a 408-character cryptogram. The killer claimed that this cryptogram would reveal his identity when deciphered. The killer sent the fourth and final cipher (discussed in the linked post) to the San Francisco Chronicle after the 408-character cryptogram, deciphered in 1969, did not reveal the killer's identity. In 2020, Melbourne, Australia, had a 112-day lockdown of the entire city to help stop the spread of COVID-19. The wearing of masks was mandatory and we were limited to one hour a day of outside activity. Otherwise, we were stuck in our homes. This gave me lots of time to look into interesting problems I'd been putting off for years. I was inspired by a YouTube video by David Oranchak, which looked at the Zodiac Killer's 340-character cipher (Z340), which is pictured below. This cipher is considered one of the holy grails of cryptography, as at the time the cipher had resisted attacks for 50 years, so any attempts to find a solution were truly a moonshot.

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It’s time for a new Georgia tradition, handing friendly strangers a bottle of water and a tasty snack, but only if they’re not Republicans.

It's spooky how accurate weather forecasts are these days.

China's Xiaomi plans to make electric vehicles (EVs) using Great Wall Motor Co Ltd's factory, Reuters reported Friday, citing three people with direct knowledge of the matter, making it the latest tech firm to join the smart mobility race. From a report: Xiaomi, one of the world's biggest smartphone makers, is in talks to use one of Great Wall's plants in China to make EVs under its own brand, said two of the people, who declined to be identified as the information is not public. Xiaomi will aim its EVs at the mass market, in line with the broader positioning of its electronics products, the two people said. Great Wall, which has not before offered manufacturing services to other companies, will provide engineering consultancy to speed up the project, said one of the people.

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