Indeed, the Blueprint for Critical Technologies [PDF] is like a reverse fractal. The closer you look at it and its rather generously titled action plan [PDF], the less detail there is to see. “Our aim in developing the list is to provide guidance and a clear signal about the critical technologies that may have national interest implications for Australia today or within the next ten years,” says the action plan....

Responding to the tweet days later and calling out the browser maker were Jamie Zawinski and Peter Linss. “Hi, I’m sure that whoever runs this account has no idea who I am, but I founded Mozilla and I’m here to say fuck you and fuck this,” Zawinski said. “Everyone involved in the project should be witheringly ashamed of this decision to partner with planet-incinerating Ponzi grifters.” Linuss was no less withering in his criticism....

A common criticism across recent years over the direction of Twitter has been whether those at the top use the site like its regular users do. Rather than tackle abuse properly by giving everyone access to the German option of autobanning neo-Nazi and white supremacist content, Twitter gave us Fleets, which didn’t even survive a year. That sort of approach looks really good as a box ticking exercise for project managers, but for users, it looks like the company is distracted and doesn’t really understand its own service....

“Other missions found hydration on the Moon, but that could indicate hydroxyl or water. If it’s water, where did it come from? Is it indigenous to the formation of the Moon, or did it arrive later by comet impacts? How much water is there? We need to answer these questions because water is critical for survival and can be used to make fuel for further exploration,” said Dr. Bulcha. SEE: NASA enters contract for computing processor that will change space exploration NASA prioritizes identifying water and other resources because it is crucial to exploring the Moon and other objects in the solar system....

Can you say, “Ow!"? The power to grab root privileges is the ultimate evil in Unix and Linux systems. Kevin Backhouse, a member of the GitHub Security Lab, found the polkit security hole in the course of his duties. He revealed it to the polkit maintainers and Red Hat’s security team. Then, when a fix was released on June 3, 2021, it was publicly disclosed as CVE-2021-3560. Backhouse found an unauthorized local user could easily get a root shell on a system using a few standard shell tools such as bash, kill, and dbus-send....

In the company’s last report, they pegged the figure at around $350 million, but increased the figure “due to both underreporting by ransomware victims and our continuing identification of ransomware addresses that have received previous victim payments.” Right now, the latest figures show more than $692 million was spent on ransomware payments in 2020. For 2021, they have already tracked over $602 million worth of ransomware payments but noted that like 2020, it is an underestimate....

Echo Dot: 5th Generation While the 5th Gen Echo Dot is the same size as the previous generation, it features a completely redesigned internal structure for double the bass output and crisper audio. The Echo Dot with Clock display now goes beyond the time to show calendar events and media information, making it a helpful addition for anyone looking for a sleek and compact smart speaker for a bedside table or office....

There has been a lot of talk about a ‘Great Resignation’ and what’s prompted it. The fact that career progression has come to a juddering halt for many is clearly a driving factor. When it comes to tech and IT teams, many report feeling as though their considerable efforts in keeping businesses operating throughout the pandemic have gone unnoticed or unappreciated. Software development can be thankless work; couple this with the intense demand the pivot to remote working and digital-first business placed on tech teams, and it’s little wonder many IT workers have had enough....

Added this week is NextDC, which joins recently added Equinix and Fujitsu. NextDC has its Perth 1 and 2, Sydney 1 and 2, Melbourne 1 and 2, Brisbane 1 and 2, and Canberra 1 facilities classed as certified against the requirements defined in the Hosting Certification Framework. Equinix Australia has its CA1, SY3, SY4, SY5, SY6, SY7, PE2, and ME4 faciltiies certified, while Fujitsu Australia’s Western Sydney and Homebush facilities have been accepted by the DTA....

Small nonprofits need all-purpose IT professionals, while larger organizations hire software developers, data analysts, and web developers. Nonprofit tech jobs offer more than a line on your resume — they’re also rewarding and meaningful. Working at a nonprofit can be a great way to advance your career while contributing to a good cause. Nonprofits need tech professionals Nonprofits rely on volunteers, coordinators, fundraisers, and directors to serve their cause. And they also need tech professionals....

Here’s our winner for each category: Security: NordVPN Speed: A Tie Privacy: NordVPN Price: CyberGhost Ease of use: NordVPN Customer service: NordVPN In our opinion, NordVPN beats CyberGhost in most categories. It just feels like a better-polished product overall. CyberGhost remains a solid choice, but NordVPN is a clear winner in our book. During our tests, we started by judging NordVPN and CyberGhost on their own merit. We then compared their essential aspects and drew our conclusions....

Notion has been compared to a wide range of other applications, but it’s really its own thing. It has the feel of a wiki, the organizational capability of a database, and the note-taking and data archiving ability of a networked notepad. Once you understand it, it’s easy to set up, but people sometimes have a bit of a challenge getting their arms around the thing. In our case, my wife often outlines the problem she wants to solve, and I set up a Notion page to manage it....

National security officials said the exploitation is almost certainly ongoing and is part of a broader effort by Russia’s GRU and 85th GTsSS to obtain information on a wide range of sensitive targets. The attackers are using brute force techniques – in which repeated login attempts are used to uncover usernames, passwords and valid account credentials – to infiltrate the networks of government and private sector organizations including military defense contractors, energy and logistics companies, law firms, think tanks, media outlets and universities....

The report sent Nutanix shares up 4% in late trading. CEO Rajiv Ramaswami called the quarter’s results, “a good start to our fiscal year,” adding that the results “[demonstrate] strong year-over-year top and bottom-line improvement.” Added Ramaswami, “We continued to execute towards our targets of free cash flow break-even in the second half of calendar 2022 and a 25 percent-plus ACV billings CAGR through fiscal 2025.” Nutanix’s CFO, Duston Williams, noted that the company “achieved record ACV billings, which grew 33 percent year-over-year, and saw 21 percent year-over-year revenue growth, our highest growth in over three years....

The report surveyed 273 businesses in the UK and was sponsored by GitHub – the code-sharing site that’s now owned by Microsoft (itself once an opponent but now a fan of open source). The first phase of the report found that open source contributed £43 billion ($60.22bn) in value to the UK economy with an estimated 126,000 local developers who help create, develop and maintain open-source projects. SEE: Network security policy (TechRepublic Premium) UK-based chip designer Arm is also backing the project and explained how standards-based open-source software benefited the company....

In partnership with Bugcrowd, OpenAI is asking for ethical hackers to find vulnerabilities in the software and report them to the company. OpenAI also wants these hackers to test ChatGPT plugins to find authentication issues, authorization issues, security issues, and a list of other issues. Also: What is ChatGPT and why does it matter? OpenAI’s Bug Bounty Program also asks hackers to find out if sensitive OpenAI information could be exposed to third parties, such as Notion, Asana, Salesforce, and many others....

Not bad for a so-called also-run, eh? It’s not just telecoms, where OpenStack has become the backbone of major cell companies such as China Mobile and Verizon. Nor is it just other major companies such as the Japanese instant messaging service LINE, the on-demand, cloud-based financial management service company Workday, Walmart Labs, and Yahoo. No, many other, much smaller companies have also staked their cloud future on OpenStack. Also: Tech in 2023: Here’s what is really going to matter Why?...

Oracle is one of many SaaS vendors that’s putting a new emphasis on cultivating workforce talent. The ongoing Covid-19 pandemic has changed employee expectations and office norms. As workplaces embrace hybrid work arrangements and manage quickly fluctuating workforces, HR functions need to change as well. Oracle Dynamic Skills maintains a dynamic record of skills data within an organization, including job titles, employee capabilities, experience and strength of skills. It includes tools for both HR teams and employees who want to leverage this data....

Also: I put the Apple Watch Ultra through a Tough Mudder The flat spot was fine with me since it replaced my wedding ring which has a very similar flat top design. However, many people prefer a more traditional round ring design and with the Gen 3 Horizon delivers on that desire. Oura also adds Rose Gold to the Gen 3 Horizon lineup. The Horizon model is available in Silver, Black, Stealth, Gold, and Rose Gold starting at $349....

Don’t want to spend any more than $30? You need the Yubikey Security Key C NFC. There’s a lot to like about it.