By Jacob Hoffman-Andrews/The Electronic Frontier Foundation

If you follow security on the Internet, you may have seen articles warning you to “beware of public Wi-Fi networks” in cafes, airports, hotels and other public places. But now, due to the widespread deployment of HTTPS encryption on most popular websites, advice to avoid public Wi-Fi is mostly out of date and applicable to a lot fewer people than it once was.
The advice stems from the early days of the Internet, when most communication was not encrypted. At that time, if someone could snoop on your network communications – for instance, by sniffing packets from unencrypted Wi-Fi or by being the NSA – they could read your e-mail. They could also steal your passwords or your login cookies and impersonate you on your favorite sites. This was widely accepted as a risk of using the Internet. Sites that used HTTPS on all pages were safe, but such sites were vanishingly rare.
However, starting in 2010 that all changed. Eric Butler released Firesheep, an easy-to-use demonstration of “sniffing” insecure HTTP to take over people’s accounts. Site owners started to take note and realized they needed to implement HTTPS (the more secure, encrypted version of HTTP) for every page on their site. The timing was good: earlier that year, Google had turned on HTTPS by default for all Gmail users and reported that the costs to do so were quite low. Hardware and software had advanced to the point where encrypting web browsing was easy and cheap.

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Posted on January 30, 2020

By Atari Hotels

Atari®, one of the world’s most iconic consumer brands and entertainment producers, announced a deal Tuesday with GSD Group, a leading innovation and strategy agency, led by founder Shelly Murphy and partner Napoleon Smith III, to acquire the rights to build video game-themed Atari Hotels in the United States, with the first location breaking ground in Phoenix later this year.
Atari, a trailblazer in the gaming industry, is pioneering an exciting new concept: a unique lodging experience combining the iconic brand with a one-of-a-kind video game-themed destination. Atari Hotels level up hotel entertainment with fully immersive experiences for every age and gaming ability, including the latest in VR and AR (Virtual and Augmented Reality). Select hotels will also feature state-of-the-art venues and studios to accommodate esports events.
Hotel development and design is being led by Shelly Murphy’s GSD Group and Napoleon Smith III, producer of the wildly successful Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles film franchise reboot. True North Studio, a leading Phoenix-based real estate developer, currently working alongside GSD Group with Steve Wozniak’s Woz Innovation Foundation, will develop the first Atari-branded hotel.

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Posted on January 29, 2020

By Boing Boing

In 1944, a bizarre criminal assaulted the small town of Mattoon, Illinois. Victims reported smelling a strange odor in their bedrooms before being overcome with nausea and paralysis. The mad gasser vanished after 10 days, leaving residents to wonder whether he had ever existed at all.

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Posted on January 28, 2020

By James Kaler/The Conversation

I was born a Capricorn (please don’t judge me), but the Sun was in the middle of Sagittarius when I was born.
As a professor emeritus of astronomy at the University of Illinois, I am often asked about the difference between astrology and astronomy. The practice of astrology, which predicts one’s fate and fortune based on the positions of the Sun, Moon, stars and planets, dates back to ancient times. It was intermingled with the science of astronomy back then – in fact, many astronomers of old made scientific observations that are valuable even today. But once Copernicus, Kepler and Galileo realized the planets orbit the Sun, rather than the Earth, and Newton discovered the physical laws behind their behavior, astrology and astronomy split, never to be reunited.
The science of astronomy is now at odds with one of the basic organizing principles in astrology – the dates of the zodiac.

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Posted on January 27, 2020

By The U.S. Department of Agriculture Food Safety and Inspection Service

Amity Packing Company of Chicago is recalling approximately 2,020 pounds of raw ground beef products that may be contaminated with extraneous materials, specifically clear, thin pliable plastic, the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) announced Friday.
The raw ground beef items were produced on Jan. 6, 2020. The following products are subject to recall:

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Posted on January 24, 2020

By United Airlines

Customers are seeing a new look on United Airlines runways.
Welcoming the new year, United is debuting new uniforms designed by Carhartt Company Gear exclusively for the airline’s 28,000 Technical Operations, Ramp Service and Catering Operations employees.
CCG worked directly with United employees for nearly three years to create a collection of uniform pieces that deliver hard-working designs that stand up to the unique demands of their jobs.
“This is more than a fashion statement for United Airlines,” said Kate Gebo, executive vice president of Human Resources and Labor Relations at United Airlines.
“This highly inclusive design process reflects how highly we value the input of our employees and union leadership. Every day all over the globe our employees on the ground are facing the coldest colds and the hottest hots. Through our partnership with Carhartt – the leader in workwear – we’ve confidently created a uniform collection enabling our employees to look good and feel good while continuing to deliver the best service for our customers.”

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Posted on January 14, 2020

By Freeman Spogli & Co.

Easy Ice, LLC (“Easy Ice“), the leading provider of commercial ice machine rental and related services, announced it has been acquired by Freeman Spogli & Co. (“Freeman Spogli“), management and other investors.
Easy Ice’s co-founders, Mark Hangen and John Mahlmeister, and the rest of the management team will continue to lead and operate the company. Specific terms of the transaction were not disclosed.

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Posted on January 10, 2020

By The National Inventors Hall of Fame

Twenty-two innovation pioneers were announced as the National Inventors Hall of Fame® (NIHF) 2020 class of Inductees on stage at CES® on Tuesday.
These innovators, whose landmark inventions range from the hard hat to the sports bra, will be celebrated as the newest class of Inductees during the NIHF Induction Ceremony. In partnership with the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO), NIHF will honor these Inductees in Washington, D.C. on May 6-7 at one of the innovation industry’s most highly anticipated events – “The Greatest Celebration of American Innovation®.”

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Posted on January 8, 2020

By Markian Hawryluk/Kaiser Health News

After 20 years of experience, legal marijuana growers in the U.S. have the reputation of creating the best product in the world, scientifically grown and tightly regulated for quality and safety. The crop would be in high demand internationally – perhaps the centerpiece of a new U.S. industry – if not for the regulatory conundrum in which growers operate.
Because marijuana is legal in many states but still illegal federally, marijuana growers are unable to ship their products to other countries or even other American states that have legalized the drug. So while U.S. cannabis firms have driven product innovation and mastered the science of large-scale grow operations, they restlessly wait for the export curtain to lift.
Instead Canada has emerged as the dominant exporter in the burgeoning global trade of marijuana, which ArcView Market Research and BDS Analytics estimated at $14.9 billion in sales for 2019.
Companies there are raising capital and building international trade ties despite having an unlikely climate to be an agricultural pot haven.

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Posted on January 4, 2020

By The Center for the Study of the Public Domain

On January 1, works from 1924 will enter the U.S. public domain¹, where they will be free for all to use and build upon, without permission or fee.
These works include George Gershwin’s Rhapsody in Blue, silent films by Buster Keaton and Harold Lloyd, and books such as Thomas Mann’s The Magic Mountain, E. M. Forster’s A Passage to India, and A. A. Milne’s When We Were Very Young.
These works were supposed to go into the public domain in 2000, after being copyrighted for 75 years. But before this could happen, Congress hit a 20-year pause button and extended their copyright term to 95 years². Now the wait is over.

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Posted on January 1, 2020