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1. Docking £500k commission from top SAS salesman was perfectly legal, rules judge

2. There's no place like GNOME: System 76 introduces COSMIC desktop GUI for its Pop!_OS Linux

3. What the FLoC? Browser makers queue up to decry Google's latest ad-targeting initiative as invasive tracking

4. Element rolls out bridge for Microsoft Teams to cross into Matrix's encrypted comms land

5. Is it still possible to run malware in a browser using JavaScript and Rowhammer? Yes, yes it is (slowly)

• Best of FRANDs: Judge allows Apple retrial following $506m patent infringement ruling

  PanOptis was obliged to provide 4G LTE licences – but no one mentioned it
  Matthew Hughes Fri 16 Apr 2021 // 10:00 UTC

  A federal judge in Texas has allowed Apple a limited retrial [PDF] in its battle with PanOptis, which stung the iPhone maker for $506m in damages over claims it infringed the company's 4G LTE patents.

  Although Apple was not permitted to relitigate the question of its liability, the retrial will determine how much it's on the hook for.

  This decision has likely proven bittersweet for Apple, which had been looking for a broader retrial, arguing the jury was not instructed about PanOptis's obligation to license its patents to the company on a fair, reasonable and non-discriminatory (FRAND) basis.

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• How not to apply for a new job: Apply for it on a job site

  Watch as I channel my digital Yosser Hughes, violence included
  Alistair Dabbs Fri 16 Apr 2021 // 09:15 UTC

  Something for the Weekend, Sir? Gizza job*. I can do that. Go on, giz it.

  The time has come, I say, to apply for many things. A job as a shoemaker? Shipbuilder? Fabricant of sealing wax? Cabbages? Kings?

  Every now and again, a freelancer feels the urge to seek solace in full-time employment. I am no exception. Even long-term contractors, who experience the daily working life of an employee in all but name, get fed up with endless podiatric scratching and muse the possibilities of professional subservience.

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• Patent battle over Facebook Live and 'walkie talkie' tech rattles through High Court in London

  Sueball sees social network squaring off against app upstart in UK branch of worldwide fight
  Gareth Corfield Fri 16 Apr 2021 // 08:30 UTC

  A legal battle between a company which says Facebook Live infringes one of its patents and the anti-social networking biz is currently playing out in the High Court of England and Wales as part of a long-running multinational legal battle.

  Voxer, which The Register briefly covered in 2011 when it launched its “walkie-talkie for the modern age”, is locked in a courtroom skirmish with Facebook over a patent for its live streaming video technology.

  The case is notable because Facebook claims Voxer infringed its intellectual property and wants Voxer’s patent declared invalid. For its part, Voxer wants to alter its disputed IP, EU patent 2,393,259, and then have the High Court declare that it doesn’t infringe any of Facebook’s patents for its Live technology.

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• To have one floppy failure is unlucky. To have 20 implies evil magic or a very silly user

  Not quite what we meant by 'disk capacity'
  Richard Speed Fri 16 Apr 2021 // 07:15 UTC

  On Call Welcome back to On Call and a timely reminder that no matter how careful and clear you think your instructions are, a user will somehow always misunderstand.

  Our tale, from a reader Regomised as "Keith", takes us back to simpler times: the era of the 5.25-inch floppy disk and software updates mailed out to users rather than flung out at inconvenient times by an unforgiving internet.

  Keith recalled a call from a customer complaining that the update of the company's proprietary software had not worked.

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• We're on our way already: Astroboffins find 5 potentially habitable Tatooine-like planets from Kepler 'scope scans

  Perhaps gigantic puffy exoplanets aren't as hostile to life as previously thought
  Katyanna Quach Fri 16 Apr 2021 // 06:04 UTC

  Astronomers believe five binary-star systems identified by NASA’s now-defunct Kepler Space Telescope could have the right properties to support extraterrestrial life, according to new calculations.

  "Life is far most likely to evolve on planets located within their system's habitable zone, just like Earth,” said Nikolaos Georgakarakos, first author of a paper on the planets, and a research associate at New York University Abu Dhabi.

  “Here we investigate whether a habitable zone exists within nine known systems with two or more stars orbited by giant planets. We show for the first time that Kepler-34, -35, -64, -413 and especially Kepler-38 are suitable for hosting Earth-like worlds with oceans."

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• Global chip shortage probably won't let up until 2023, warns TSMC: CEO 'still expects capacity to tighten more'

  Automotive supply is a 'top priority', analysts told
  Katyanna Quach Fri 16 Apr 2021 // 01:29 UTC

  TSMC this week warned the ongoing global shortage of semiconductor supplies will probably continue throughout this year and next.

  CEO C.C Wei confirmed to analysts on the chip manufacturing giant's financial earnings call that it will invest $100bn in building more manufacturing plants and hiring thousands of engineers to step up production and capacity rates, though it's going to take time.

  "To install the capacity, it won't be available until 2023," Wei said. "This year and next year I still expect capacity to tighten more. In 2023, I hope that we can offer more capacity to support our customers, and in time start to see the supply chain's tightening released a little bit."

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• Walmart’s Indian outpost FlipKart picks industrial giant’s India-US joint venture for Chennai data center

  E-commerce wing to also get a huge fulfillment center for Q3 2022
  Laura Dobberstein Fri 16 Apr 2021 // 00:21 UTC

  Indian e-commerce company FlipKart, majority owned by US behemoth Walmart, has chosen AdaniConneX to build its third data center in Chennai. It is expected to be one of the largest private cloud deployments in the country,

  AdaniConneX is a joint venture between Adani Enterprises, one of India’s largest multi-infrastructure organizations, and global data center operator EdgeConneX. The two formed a partnership in February to develop and operate both full scale and edge data centers throughout India, largely powered by renewable energy. The joint venture aims to develop 1GW of data center capacity over the next 10 years.

  Meanwhile, affiliate Adani Logistics Limited will build and lease FlipKart an almost 50,000-square-metre fulfillment center in its Mumbai logistics hub. The facility, slated for operation in the third quarter of next year, will potentially store up to 10 million units of inventory and create about 2,500 jobs.

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• Mobile app security standard for IoT, VPNs proposed by group backed by Big Tech

  ioXt Alliance aims to bring 'transparency and visibility'
  Thomas Claburn in San Francisco Thu 15 Apr 2021 // 21:42 UTC

  On Thursday the ioXt Alliance, an Internet of Things (IoT) security trade group backed by some of the biggest names in the business, introduced a set of baseline standards for mobile apps, in the hope that IoT security may someday be a bit less of a dumpster fire.

  The announcement of the new Mobile Application Profile [PDF], a certification program covering best practices and requirements to keep mobile apps safer than the low bar of vendor discretion, comes from the collaboration of more than 20 ioXt member companies like Amazon, Comcast, Google, and others.

  "This security baseline helps mitigate against common threats and reduces the probability of significant vulnerabilities," said Brooke Davis and Eugene Liderman, from Google's Android security and privacy team, in a blog post.

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• Zorin OS 16 beta claims largest built-in app library 'of any open source desktop ever'

  Linux for Windows switchers: smooth user experience, if users steer clear of Windows apps on Wine
  Tim Anderson Thu 15 Apr 2021 // 20:15 UTC

  Zorin OS 16 Linux has moved into beta, promising improved performance and a more extensive application Store covering Flathub and Snap as well as old-style repositories.

  Zorin is a Linux distribution aimed at switchers from Windows or Mac, and endeavours to offer a polished user experience and a minimum of fuss. It is offered in both free and commercial versions, with the paid-for Ultimate Edition priced at £39 ($53), and free Core, Lite and Education editions.

  The Lite edition uses the XFCE minimalist desktop, while the others have a custom GNOME-based desktop GUI. The extras in the Ultimate edition are additional desktop layouts, one imitating macOS, additional bundled applications and games, and installation support. A note on “why does it cost” puts the emphasis on supporting the project rather than the value to the user.

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• Ever wondered what it's like working for Microsoft? Leaked survey shines a light on how those at the code coalface feel

  Lowest scoring sections were 'performance' and 'deal', but it looks like it could be a lot worse
  Richard Speed Thu 15 Apr 2021 // 19:02 UTC

  You aren't the only one feeling like you're giving more than you're getting from your employer – a chunk of Microsofties are of the same opnion.

  A leaked employee survey seen by Business Insider gives an insight into what it is like to toil within the walls of Redmond.

  Microsoft itself did not wish to comment on the poll, it being leaked and all, but the company conducts such surveys annually.

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• Deno 1.9 update includes proposal cold-shouldered in February, now hyped as '3x faster' performance bump

  Plus HTTP/2 web server written in Rust
  Tim Anderson Thu 15 Apr 2021 // 18:08 UTC

  Deno 1.9 hit the streets this week touting new features including an HTTP/2 server written in Rust.

  An alternative to Node.js, Deno is a runtime for TypeScript and JavaScript on the server, based on the V8 JavaScript engine also used by Google Chrome. It was created by the original developer of Node.js, Ryan Dahl, to improve on what he saw as mistakes in Node.js. A clue to the name may be found in the code "node".split("").sort().join("");.

  Deno has always provided an embedded web server, std/http, written in TypeScript. According to the Deno team, "std/http's major down side is that it is HTTP/1.1 only – with no easy path forward towards HTTP/2." The solution was to adapt Hyper, an HTTP/2 server coded in Rust, to become Deno's web server. Deno itself was built in Rust. The new server "improves hello-world throughput by 48 per cent," according to the team, though the API is not yet stable.

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