Source: Hacker News
Source: The Verge - All Posts
AT&T Illinois will pay $23 million after it admitted to making payments to former Illinois Speaker of the House Michael J. Madigan’s political ally in return for his “vote and influence over a bill,” according to a Friday press release from the Department of Justice (via Ars Technica). The company will also have to cooperate with the government’s investigation into the alleged misconduct and will have to set up a compliance and ethics program that the government will receive reports on. If the company keeps up its end of the bargain, the government will dismiss its prosecution.
According to the DOJ, in 2017 AT&T paid one of Madigan’s allies $22,500 through a lobbying firm that it worked with. AT&T employees tried to make it seem as if...
Source: Ars Technica
Enlarge / Reviver's e-ink license plate works with a smartphone app. (credit: Reviver)
Digital license plates that can display information other than a car's license plate number are now legal for all vehicles in California. At the end of September, Governor Gavin Newsom signed AB 984 into law, which makes the e-ink displays a legal alternative to the traditional metal plate. The move comes after a successful 2018 pilot program—one that Ars tested out at the time.
The revised legislation sets out the conditions for using an e-ink plate (referred to in the bill as an "alternative device"). For example, a malfunctioning digital license plate would be a correctable violation—the law also requires "a process for frequent notification" if the digital plate breaks or needs replacing. And altering, forging, counterfeiting, or other hacking of the plates will be a felony.
"As a member of the California Legislative Technology and Innovation Caucus, I am thrilled to build upon the past successes of the Legislature that first implemented this program. AB 984 strikes a necessary balance between innovation and privacy while digitizing the only thing on our cars today that remains antiquated, license plates," said California Assemblymember Lori Wilson, who co-authored the bill.
Source: Hack a Day
It is the time of year when a lot of people in certain parts of the world carve pumpkins. [Gonkee] is carving a watermelon, which we assume is similar. He decided to make a CNC machine to do the carving for him. The unusual part is the use of two lazy Susans to make a rotary carving machine. You can see the result in the video below.
The hardware is clever and there is software that lets you do drawings, although we were hoping for something that would process gcode or slice STL. That would be a worthy add-on project. There were a few iterations required before the Melon Carver 3000 worked satisfactorily. Seeing a carving tool operating on two circles gives us a lot of ideas. We aren’t sure how sturdy the mounts are, so don’t plan on carving aluminum without some changes, but we suspect it is possible.
Then again, a laser head mounted on the frame would have probably made short work of the melon, and wouldn’t require much mechanical stiffness. It would, however, take a little effort to keep it in focus. So many ideas to try!
Watermelon is a popular hacking medium, apparently. There’s even one that holds a GameBoy.
Source: Hacker News
Source: Hacker News
Source: Hacker News
Source: Hacker News
Source: Slashdot
Game company 2K has warned users to remain on the lookout for suspicious activity across their accounts following a breach last month that allowed a threat actor to obtain email addresses, names, and other sensitive information provided to 2K's support team. From a report: The breach occurred on September 19, when the threat actor illegally obtained system credentials belonging to a vendor 2K uses to run its help desk platform. 2K warned users a day later that the threat actor used unauthorized access to send some users emails that contained malicious links. The company warned users not to open any emails sent by its online support address or click on any links in them. If users already clicked on links, 2K urged them to change all passwords stored in their browsers. On Thursday, after an outside party completed a forensic investigation, 2K sent an unknown number of users an email warning them that the threat actor was able to obtain some of the personal information they supplied to help desk personnel.
Read more of this story at Slashdot.
Source: Ars Technica
Enlarge / The morning fog leaves a layer of dew on cannabis rows in Petrolia, California, August 3, 2022. (credit: Getty | The Washington Post)
President Biden on Thursday announced that he is pardoning all prior federal offenses of simple marijuana possession and encouraged state governors to do the same for state offenses. He also directed federal officials to review how marijuana is classified under the Controlled Substances Act.
"There are thousands of people who have prior federal convictions for marijuana possession, who may be denied employment, housing, or educational opportunities as a result," Biden said in a statement. "My action will help relieve the collateral consequences arising from these convictions."
The blazing announcement means that all prior charges, convictions, and not-yet-prosecuted offenses will be pardoned. The Justice Department will set up an administrative process for those affected to obtain a certificate of pardon.
