Security

• Scientists took cues from helicopter seeds to invent tiny microchips that float on wind

  'Microfliers' could carry sensors to monitor air pollution and more
  Lindsay Clark Fri 24 Sep 2021 // 16:29 UTC 1

  Video As autumn arrives in the northern hemisphere, scientists have shown how tiny connected semiconductors can be distributed on the wind in a similar way to the seasonal spreading of airborne seeds.

  Researchers led by Professor John Rogers of the US's Northwestern University designed printed circuits able to manifest rotational behaviours, as seen in helicopter and spinner seeds, that enhance the stability and flying behaviour.

  In a paper published in Nature this week, they argue that simple electronics can be integrated into the designs, with one example containing a circuit to detect airborne particles.

  Continue reading

• With just over two weeks to go, Microsoft punts Windows 11 to Release Preview

  What's that coming over the hill? Is it new hardware? Is it new hardware?
  Richard Speed Fri 24 Sep 2021 // 15:33 UTC 4

  Microsoft has followed up a lacklustre Surface hardware event with a Windows 11 Release Preview for Windows Insiders.

  Assuming, of course, those Insiders are possessed of an "eligible PC" – for Microsoft does not appear to be backing down on its vendor-delighting and customer-frustrating hardware requirements for the new operating system.

  The build in question is 22000.194, which emerged last week in the Beta Channel to the disappointment of users trying to run Windows 11 on a virtual machine that is not to Microsoft's liking. Its arrival in Release Preview yesterday, just over two weeks from general availability on 5 October, is an indicator that fans should expect little more than patches and updates until then.

  Continue reading

• Fukushima studies show wildlife is doing nicely without humans, thank you very much

  Biodiversity increasing, endangered species gradually returning despite radioactive terror pig presence
  Matt Dupuy Fri 24 Sep 2021 // 14:45 UTC 13

  Studies of biodiversity around the former Fukushima nuclear power plant in Japan have shown that a decade after the nuclear incident there in March 2011, the local wildlife, at least, is mostly thriving.

  The incident at the Fukushima Daiichi site – in which three of the site's six reactors suffered meltdowns due to damage from an earthquake-induced tsunami – was one of only two events in history to be rated at level 7 on the International Nuclear and Radiological Event Scale (the other being Chernobyl).

  This scale is not related to the quantity of radioactive material released (although that was considerable), but by the number of people affected by the event. Following the incident, 154,000 people were evacuated from the area surrounding the plant due to the risk of radioactive contamination, a number second only to the 335,000 evacuated from the environs of the Chernobyl plant in 1986.

  Continue reading

• HPE campaigns against 'cloud first' push in UK public sector

  Because HPE does not do public cloud? No, no, it is 'for the good'
  Tim Anderson Fri 24 Sep 2021 // 13:02 UTC 9

  Comment Hewlett Packard Enterprise has posted a "UK Public Sector Manifesto" with nine themes, alongside a campaign hyping the value of hybrid cloud.

  The bugbear for HPE is that UK government introduced a "cloud first" policy in 2013.

  The current version was revised in 2017 but it mandates that central government, when buying new IT services, must consider a cloud solution – and specifically a public cloud, rather than "a community, hybrid or private deployment model" – before any other option.

  Continue reading

• Tech contractors fume over payday outage at Giant Pay after it sniffs 'suspicious activity'

  Technical difficulties, please stand by
  Tim Richardson Fri 24 Sep 2021 // 12:26 UTC 13

  Giant Pay – an umbrella company used by contractors across the UK – has confirmed "suspicious activity" on its platform is behind a days-long ongoing outage that has left folk fretting about whether they'll get paid this month.

  In an update on its website today, the firm said: "Upon detection of suspicious activity on our network on 22nd September 2021, we immediately assembled a response team including IT data experts and specialist lawyers, and we are currently working with the highest priority to resolve this issue.

  "As part of the investigation and as a measure of caution, we have proactively taken our systems offline and suspended all services temporarily." It also confirmed it had contacted regulatory authorities and assured contractors they would get paid.

  Continue reading

• Parking is expensive. It can cost an arm, a leg, and a Windows licence

  Activate Windows and put up a parking lot
  Richard Speed Fri 24 Sep 2021 // 11:29 UTC 4

  Bork!Bork!Bork! Sometimes only the freshest of borks will do, and sometimes the best laid plans of administrators can go awry.

  Continue reading

• 'Nobody in their right mind would build a naval base here today': Navigating in and out of Devonport

  Twisting and turning like a twisty-turny thing
  Gareth Corfield Fri 24 Sep 2021 // 10:49 UTC 8

  Boatnotes II As HMS Severn continues hosting the Royal Navy's Fleet Navigating Officer's course, The Register has taken a closer look at the precision demanded of naval officers conning their ships in and out of one of the most cramped ports where the Navy routinely operates.

  Entering and leaving Plymouth, home to Devonport naval base, is a tricky operation under naval rules as we observed.

  Continue reading

• CutefishOS: Unix-y development model? Check. macOS aesthetic? Check (if you like that sort of thing)

  Also a range of homegrown apps. Still in beta, so plenty of rough edges, though
  Scott Gilbertson Fri 24 Sep 2021 // 10:01 UTC 33

  Review One of the reasons Linux has never caught on as a desktop operating system, as Linux fans know, is that Linux isn't a desktop operating system, it's a kernel. And assembling it into a coherent package users can install is the job of a distribution.

  This is a very different distribution model than the one Apple or Microsoft uses, and it confuses newcomers. Windows and macOS are easier to understand, they are single things made by single companies. Canonical and Red Hat notwithstanding, Linux is not packaged and presented this way at all. I've long believed that this difference is one of the key stumbling blocks to wider Linux adoption.

  Apple has macOS, Microsoft has Windows, Linux has... hundreds of awkward, confusingly named options.

  Continue reading

• Nothing works any more. Who decided that redundant systems should become redundant?

  It'll all come out in the wash
  Alistair Dabbs Fri 24 Sep 2021 // 09:14 UTC 48

  Something for the Weekend, Sir? Something is out of place; it does not quite fit. I reach down and give it a gentle tug. Ah, that's better.

  If you are expecting a harmless reveal of a desperately contrived euphemism, as per usual, you are going to be disappointed. This time I really am talking about my underwear. I am experiencing a clothing comfort conflict below the waist. To misparaphrase an ailing Oscar Wilde, either these new chuddies or my nuts will have to go.

  It is my fault, of course, for having purchased the wrong size or whatever. Am I wearing them back to front? It's a bit difficult to tell as I removed the labels. When I say "labels", I am referring to the three-dozen nylon razor blades that were sewn into the hem, each adorned with iconographic instructions helpfully reminding you not to clean the item with a circular saw, industrial sander or quarry explosives.

  Continue reading

• BOFH: You'll find there's a company asset tag right here, underneath the monstrously heavy arcade machine

  Flame purifies all
  Simon Travaglia Fri 24 Sep 2021 // 08:30 UTC 95

  Episode 17 It's barely 9am in the morning and we're all standing outside while the fire brigade inspects the premises for the source of the fire.

  A fire that in all likelihood never happened.

  "What was it?" the Boss asks, no doubt fearing a discovery of the charred remains of a Beancounter in a closet somewhere on the third or fourth floor.

  Continue reading

• UK Ministry of Defence tries again to procure £1.7bn tri-service recruitment system

  New guys can't do a worse job than Capita, right? Right?
  Lindsay Clark Fri 24 Sep 2021 // 07:45 UTC 23

  The UK Armed Forces are looking to restart a £1.7bn procurement for recruitment and onboarding of personnel to cover extensive IT investments as well as process outsourcing.

  The move follows in the footsteps of an earlier Army deal which saw Capita under-perform on a £1.3bn recruiting project.

  Under a 10-year contract, the UK services are looking for a single, common, tri-service recruiting process under the banner of the Armed Forces Recruiting Programme.

  Continue reading