Firmware-based system recovers encrypted data in seconds, but manufacturers are proving reluctant A team of researchers claim to have come up with an upgrade that makes SSDs impervious to ransomware attacks – detecting infections and reverting unexpected encryption within a matter of seconds, at the cost of a small increase in latency.… Boffins unveil SSD-Insider++, promise…

Shouldn’t the idea of publishing on the web mean generating something that can “echo all around the world”? Once again, my experience shows that if you publish something on an employer’s web site, or a company’s web site, or even in something that just takes away the work of managing web sites, the chances of… What…

Feel-good story about a Japanese convenience store becomes one of the most unexpected surprises at the Olympics. If you’ve ever visited Japan, you’ll know just how wonderful its convenience stores are. Unlike a lot of convenience stores overseas, the ones in Japan are warm, clean and inviting, with door chimes to welcome you and a… Canadian…

Can Mr. Sato collect them all or will he wilt beneath the early summer sun trying? Stuffed with sweet red bean paste and consisting of a soft, doughy exterior, anpan is a timeless classic and a ubiquitous feature in bakeries across Japan. The baked sweet is so popular that convenience store chain Daily Yamazaki has… Anpan…

The pros and cons of living in Nakagin Capsule Tower, an architectural marvel in Tokyo Yes, it still exists. And the author is attempting to stay in the building for one month. Efforts to raze the building are on hold. Similarly the building is not being actively rented out (no doubt due to Covid19), but the…

Want to give full credit to O’Reilly Radar and NYTimes.com for the articles they published that got me thinking about threats to the veracity and usefulness of the Internet these days. SIFT and DeepCheapFakes Tuesday, May 11, 2021 10:11 AM I know Mike Caulfield was spotlighted in a NYTimes article addressing ways to defend oneself…

Road and Track Magazine: If you think we’re anywhere near fully autonomous cars, this video might convince you otherwise. Thank you Road and Track magazine and website for doing the testing on this long-standing belief in Tesla’s insurmountable technological lead in Autonomous Driving. I’ve marveled at each and every notable reported accident where-in a driver…

https://www.npr.org/sections/goatsandsoda/2021/03/15/977527808/who-points-to-wildlife-farms-in-southwest-china-as-likely-source-of-pandemic I read the following words from this NPR report back on March 15th. And I don’t know how to interpret and read it: “There was massive transmission going on at that market for sure,” says Linfa Wang, a virologist who studies bat viruses at Duke-NUS Medical School in Singapore. He’s also part of the…

https://www.google.com/maps/embed?pb=%211m28%211m12%211m3%211d415274.386455723%212d138.98866724700198%213d35.59489731900607%212m3%211f0%212f0%213f0%213m2%211i1024%212i768%214f13.1%214m13%213e3%214m5%211s0x60188bfbd89f700b%3A0x277c49ba34ed38%212z44CSMTAwLTAwMDUg5p2x5Lqs6YO95Y2D5Luj55Sw5Yy65Li444Gu5YaF77yR5LiB55uuIOadseS6rOmnhQ%213m2%211d35.6812362%212d139.7671248%214m5%211s0x60196082b7322431%3A0x7dbea29f223111b%212z5rKz5Y-j5rmW6aeF44CB44CSNDAxLTAzMDEg5bGx5qKo55yM5Y2X6YO955WZ6YOh5a-M5aOr5rKz5Y-j5rmW55S66Ii55rSl%213m2%211d35.498337899999996%212d138.7688217%215e0%213m2%211sja%212sjp%214v1614575091238%215m2%211sja%212sjp Oversleep and miss your stop on this train and you’ll be stranded in the middle of nowhere, which might just be the start of a beautiful adventure. One of Japan’s favorite places to catch a few extra Zs is in the train, since if you can grab a seat, the soft swaying and rhythmical sounds……

Thinking about the intersection of higher education and climate change sometimes can be daunting in its scope and complexity. Sometimes small, individual stories are a good way into the topic. Today’s case in point: a Russian gas tanker just traveled successfully across most of the Arctic Ocean bordering Asia.  Twice. This is such an extreme… From…