We see many 16-bit retrocomputers around here based on Intel and Intel-like chips such as the 8086, 8088, V20, and similar. While they don’t seem very powerful by today’s standards, they were perfectly capable machines and, thanks to Elks (Embeddedable Linux Kernel Subset), you can run something fairly Linux-like on these devices.

The requirements are light: 512K of RAM is desirable, but you can do something with 256K. If you have ROM, you can even get by with 128K. Most importantly, the system doesn’t require a memory management unit to remap memory like many operating systems.

The project has been around for a bit, but has had some recent updates both for the runtime and the build system. For example, you can now build under WSL or using the Open Watcom C compiler. Executables are now compressed, and there’s a new cache system. The kernel and standard library no longer use long division, to improve perfomance.

If you want to try the system, you can boot it in an emulator on your browser. Just log in as “root.” There’s even a fake serial port available. Plus you can play Adventure. Or Doom.

We’ve seen Elks in some very strange places. Really strange.

hackaday.com/2025/01/05/16-bit…

In mezzo alla crescente popolarità dei social network e al desiderio dei genitori di promuovere gli account dei propri figli, sono emersi casi orribili di sfruttamento e abuso. L’indagine ha scoperto che uomini adulti, spesso con precedenti penali, offrono i servizi di fotografi o esperti di promozione per creare “carriere da star” per le giovani ragazze. Tuttavia, contribuiscono invece alla creazione di materiali CSAM.

In un caso, una ragazza di 12 anni ha posato per un fotografo che è stato arrestato per creazione di CSAM. Il fotografo, che si è ammesso colpevole, ha poi affermato che stava semplicemente facendo “ciò che i clienti volevano vedere”. L’arresto è stato reso possibile da un’indagine federale, ma la maggior parte di questi casi rimane impunita.

I social network, come notano gli esperti, sono diventati una piattaforma chiave per tali abusi. Sotto le mentite spoglie di professionisti, gli uomini si rivolgono alle madri, offrendo aiuto nella promozione degli account. A volte pagano per foto esplicite o addirittura acquistano gli effetti personali delle ragazze. Le madri stesse spesso non sospettano o ignorano le vere intenzioni di tali “aiutanti”, trascinate dalla prospettiva di soldi facili.

Un fotografo continua a lavorare con minori nonostante le accuse di abusi sessuali, che ovviamente nega. Altri imputati conducono le loro operazioni nell’ombra o addirittura nelle carceri, rimanendo attivi sui social network. Allo stesso tempo, i criminali riescono a costruire rapporti di fiducia con i genitori, utilizzando il denaro e le promesse di fama come strumento di manipolazione.

Spesso gli imputati sfuggono alla punizione grazie a scappatoie legali. Ad esempio, sostengono che le fotografie siano conformi alla legge perché non vengono esposti i genitali. Tuttavia, avvocati e attivisti per i diritti umani sottolineano che la sessualizzazione dei bambini può essere considerata illegale anche se il corpo è parzialmente coperto.

L’indagine ha anche scoperto che le vittime vengono spesso lasciate sole con il loro trauma. Le ragazze vittime di sfruttamento ammettono che il loro coinvolgimento in un business del genere ha lasciato un segno profondo nella psiche, portando a gravi problemi mentali e esacerbando il senso di colpa per ciò che hanno fatto.

In questo contesto sorgono domande per le piattaforme in cui vengono distribuiti tali materiali. I rappresentanti di Meta sostengono che stanno adottando misure per limitare le interazioni tra adulti e minori, ma gli esperti ritengono che gli sforzi dell’azienda siano insufficienti. Il problema dei materiali pedopornografici rimane su vasta scala e richiede un’azione attiva non solo da parte delle forze dell’ordine, ma anche da parte dei genitori che devono comprendere i rischi e proteggere i propri figli.

L'articolo La Promessa Di Fama e Soldi Facili! Quando il Marketing per i Minori diventa CSAM proviene da il blog della sicurezza informatica.

For economic reasons, not every lake with a dam can support a hydroelectric power plant. Some rivers or creeks are dammed for flood control or simply for recreation, and don’t have the flow rate or aren’t deep enough to make the investment of a grid-scale generation facility worthwhile. But for those of us with a few spare parts around and access to a small lake, sometimes it’s possible to generate a usable amount of energy with just a bit of effort.

[Beyond the Tint] is building this mostly as a proof-of-concept, starting with a 1,000W hub motor from an e-bike that’s been removed from its wheel. A 3D-printed waterwheel attachment is installed in its place, and the fixed shaft is attached to a homemade ladder-looking mechanism that allows the entire generator to be lowered into the flow of a moving body of water, in this case, a small stream. A bridge rectifier converts the AC from the hub motor (now a generator) into DC, and after a few measurements and trials, [Beyond the Tint] produced over 30W with the first prototype.

A second prototype was made with feedback from the first video he produced, this time with an enclosed paddlewheel. This didn’t appear to make much difference at first, but a more refined impeller may make a difference in future prototypes. Small-scale hydropower is a fairly popular challenge to tackle, especially in the off-grid community. With access to even a small flowing stream and enough elevation change, it’s possible to build something like this generator out of parts from an old washing machine.

youtube.com/embed/kYF8ICk1E5c?…

youtube.com/embed/stiuAxHmYiw?…

hackaday.com/2025/01/05/e-bike…

I ricercatori della Cornell University hanno creato il primo visore VR per topi da laboratorio. MouseGoggles che consente di osservare come si comporta il cervello dei roditori mentre esplorano gli spazi virtuali.

Per assemblare il dispositivo, i creatori del progetto hanno utilizzato componenti già pronti: schermi di orologi intelligenti e obiettivi speciali. “Ci siamo comportati come hacker: abbiamo preso parti destinate a uno scopo e le abbiamo utilizzate in un contesto completamente diverso“, afferma uno dei leader, il postdoc Matthew Isaacson.

Gli autori hanno preso in considerazione tutte le caratteristiche strutturali del corpo del topo. Durante gli esperimenti, il roditore corre lungo una pista a forma di palla, gli viene fissata la testa e viene indossato un casco con una chiusura speciale. Sebbene il dispositivo sia molto più grande della testa di un topo, non interferisce con l’animale e non provoca disagio.

Dieci anni fa, gli scienziati hanno già provato a creare la realtà virtuale per topi sperimentali utilizzando proiettori. Tuttavia, la luce intensa e il rumore degli schermi interferivano con la purezza degli esperimenti e questa idea venne abbandonata.

Sono stati effettuati una serie di test per testare la nuova tecnologia. In uno di essi, ai topi è stata mostrata una macchia scura in aumento, come se un predatore si stesse avvicinando a loro. Se prima i roditori non reagivano in alcun modo alle proiezioni, ora quasi tutti i soggetti sperimentali si spaventavano e cercavano di scappare dal “nemico”.

Particolare attenzione è stata prestata a due importanti aree del cervello animale. Le osservazioni della corteccia visiva primaria hanno confermato che le immagini nel casco sono chiare e contrastate. E i dati dell’ippocampo hanno mostrato che i roditori costruiscono con successo mappe dell’ambiente virtuale nelle loro teste.

Grazie alle nuove tecnologie è possibile studiare più a fondo il funzionamento delle reti neurali responsabili dell’orientamento nello spazio. Ciò è particolarmente importante per la ricerca sul morbo di Alzheimer e su altre malattie del cervello.

I creatori di MouseGoggles non si fermeranno qui. I loro piani sono di sviluppare una versione leggera del casco per i ratti. Inoltre, il team vuole aggiungere odori e sapori alla realtà virtuale.

Il professore di ingegneria biomedica Chris Shaffer vede grandi prospettive nello sviluppo del progetto. Secondo lui, la realtà virtuale per tutti e cinque i sensi aiuterà a comprendere i complessi meccanismi di comportamento dei roditori: come percepiscono i segnali dall’esterno, come li collegano ai loro bisogni – ad esempio la fame o la stanchezza – e come prendono decisioni. sulla base di questo.

L'articolo Topi in Realtà Virtuale: La Scienza Sperimenta un Futuro Oltre l’Immaginazione proviene da il blog della sicurezza informatica.

Nasce a Cinisi, Palermo, Peppino Impastato.
Ruppe con la parte mafiosa della sua famiglia.
Dai microfoni di Radio Aut incalzò politici e capimafia, in particolare il boss Gaetano Badalamenti, che abitava a soli cento passi da casa Impastato.
Venne ucciso nella notte fra l’8 e il 9 maggio del 1978, in una Italia distratta dal ritrovamento del corpo dell' onorevole Moro.
Nel 2002 Badalamenti fu riconosciuto mandante dell’omicidio e condannato all’ergastolo.

@Storia
@Storiaweb

Dear Friend of Press Freedom,

If you enjoy reading this newsletter, please support our work. Our impact in 2024 was made possible by supporters like you. If someone has forwarded you this newsletter, please subscribe here.

Democrats surrender on press freedom

Democrats spent election season fundraising by warning America that a second Trump term would kickstart America’s descent into fascism. It’d be logical to assume, then, that after Trump won, they’d do everything in their power to restrain his anti-democratic impulses. You’d think that even before he won, the mere prospect would spur some urgency to check his potential powers.

But they either didn’t really believe Trump posed the threats they campaigned on, or they don’t care. That’s evident because, despite Trump escalating his threats to retaliate against the media to unprecedented levels in the closing weeks of 2024, Senate leadership gave up on the PRESS Act — the bipartisan “shield” bill to protect journalist-source confidentiality.

There are no excuses for their failure. The bill passed the House unanimously and had bipartisan support in the Senate, which Democrats controlled. Sure, it didn’t help that Trump called on Republicans to kill the bill, or that Sen. Tom Cotton gave an irrational floor speech opposing it.

But those obstacles only arose because Senate Democrats waited 11 months to act, after the House passed the bill last January. And there were still opportunities in the closing days of the session, even if Sen. Schumer would’ve had to shorten senators’ holiday break. Bottom line, if leadership saw the bill as a higher priority, it would be the law of the land today.

The bill’s lead sponsors — Jamie Raskin and Kevin Kiley in the House and Ron Wyden and Mike Lee in the Senate — deserve credit for their diligent efforts. So do the newspapers that endorsed the bill, even though they should’ve done so sooner. But others — particularly those in leadership positions who could’ve done more — should be ashamed. If Trump follows through on his threats against the press they will share a significant portion of the blame.

Mohawk journalist speaks out about being arrested for reporting

Isaac White is a Mohawk journalist from the territory of Akwesasne in northern New York. He was arrested back in May for attempting to cover a demonstration in opposition to a land claim settlement.

White’s story about his arrest, which we published in December, discusses his shock at being arrested in violation of the Constitution his ancestors inspired and his suspicion that the charges against him and others were intended to silence critics of the settlement. These charges were dropped several months later, after Freedom of the Press Foundation (FPF) and other organizations wrote to local prosecutors.

If White’s suspicions are correct, those efforts failed. “While the thought of spending a year in county jail wasn’t appealing,” he writes, “there was no way I would bend to the state’s bullying.” Read White’s detailed and inspiring reflection on his ordeal here.

News outlets shouldn’t settle defensible cases

FPF Director of Advocacy Seth Stern argued in the Chicago Sun-Times that ABC could’ve defended Trump’s lawsuit alleging George Stephanopoulos defamed him by stating that he’d been found liable for rape, as opposed to sexual abuse. Instead, it settled for $15 million.

Stern would know — he helped defend the Sun-Times in a virtually identical case over 10 years ago. “Find me the person or company that’s eager to do business with alleged sexual assailants and abusers but draws the line at alleged rapists,” he writes, questioning whether Disney-owned ABC prioritized the interests of its nonmedia holdings over the First Amendment. You can read the op-ed here.

The 2025 journalist’s digital security checklist

In tumultuous times, we believe in being prepared, not scared. Sound digital security practice often involves forming and relying on good habits. Building these reflexes now will help keep journalists better protected against future threats.

This is why our digital security team distilled advice our trainers have shared with thousands of journalists over the years into actionable, concrete steps. Read more here.

What we’re reading

Federal lawsuit: Asheville journalists sue city, police over alleged illegal arrests (Asheville Citizen Times). Park curfews don’t mean police can evade scrutiny at night. The Asheville Blade had every right to cover a controversial Christmas night encampment sweep three years ago. Asheville officials must be held accountable for retaliating against journalists.

Indigenous journalism legacy ends in Akwesasne with Indian Time closing (Canadian Broadcasting Corporation). Sadly, Indigenous-owned news outlets face the same challenges as other local news outlets. Case in point, Indian Time, the newspaper White was reporting for when he was arrested, was recently forced to shutter. It covered Akwesasne, located at the U.S.-Canada border.

LA city officials use disappearing Google Chats. The city attorney is investigating (Los Angeles Times). When they’re not trying to sue or prosecute journalists for reporting on public records, Los Angeles officials use disappearing chats to avoid creating them in the first place. LA’s dismal track record on press freedom is a reminder for anyone who thinks it’s solely a Trump or Republican issue.

He leaked Trump’s tax returns. Will Biden protect him? (The Intercept). Charles Littlejohn didn’t leak tax evaders’ returns for personal gain, but because he saw no other path to accountability. We wrote last year that “even murder defendants are entitled to consideration of their motives at sentencing. Whistleblowers certainly should be as well.”

Meta’s WhatsApp wins ruling holding spyware maker NSO liable for hacking (The Washington Post). NSO Group, the maker of the notorious Pegasus spyware, cannot escape accountability in U.S. courts for its unlawful attacks on journalists and human rights activists in dozens of countries around the world.

Spyware is spreading — and it’s cheaper than ever (Columbia Journalism Review). Trevor Timm, FPF’s executive director, helped journalists Joel Simon and Ronan Farrow alongside Ela Stapley of the Committee to Protect Journalists come up with five tips for reporters worried about spyware attacks.

Check out our other newsletters

If you haven’t yet, subscribe to FPF’s other newsletters, including The Classifieds, our new newsletter on overclassification and more from Lauren Harper, our Daniel Ellsberg Chair on Government Secrecy.

freedom.press/issues/dems-fail…