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Google’s Android search preference menu auction has been released, and DuckDuckGo was eliminated in most countries, which development did not augur well with the privacy search engine.

The move which is perceived as furthering of Google’s dominance in mobile search by boxing out alternative search engines, has been vehemently fought by DuckDuckGo, as most consumers want alternatives, and search engines like Google take most of their profits from the preference menu.

DuckDuckGo did not just call out Google for unfairly removing it from the Choice Screen Options Menu, but has also petitioned the European Commission (EC) to take action against Google.

What is Android search preference menu auction?



Google’s search preference menu for Android devices in the European Union is based on a recurring auction model, whereby Google offers alternative search engines the chance to bid for three spots in each EU country, with all the proceeds going to Google alone.



While DuckDuckGo won a spot in the first auction, and Android users in Europe had the opportunity to pick DuckDuckGo as their default search engine. However, it’s unlikely that they will remain an option in next year's auctions, as those search engines that squeeze money out of people's personal information, including ISPs will participate in next year's auctions, which will easily outbid search engines like DuckDuckGo that respect people's privacy.

This auction process, proposed by Google, was conceived to make Google more money, not just to provide meaningful consumer choice, according to DuckDuckGo.

What are the Solutions to the Search Preference Menu Auction issue



DuckDuckGo is proposing that auction should be halted, as history has already shown that it simply isn’t necessary. As recently, a search preference menu shifted Android market share in Russia without an auction.

Additionally, Microsoft created a successful browser preference menu in 2010 without an auction. In which case, the top five browsers by market share appeared in random order, followed by a second, randomly ordered tier and most importantly, no browser paid for a placement.

DuckDuckGo could be removed from Android Search Preference Menu

TypeScript is an open-source programming language developed by Microsoft, which is a strict syntactical superset of JavaScript and brings optional static typing to the language.

While TypeScript 4.1 is a planned upgrade to the popular programming language, now available as a beta release; it features template literal types and a multitude of enhancements. With the template literal type having the same syntax as template literal strings in JavaScript, except as it is used in type positions.

TypeScript 4.1 beta allows developers re-map keys in mapped types with a new as clause, and the new clause lets developers leverage features like template literal types to create new property names.

What's New in TypeScript 4.1 beta?



TypeScript 4.1 beta comes with a number of features, including a recursive conditional types capability, with some restrictions that are eased on conditional types, now able to immediately reference themselves within branches, making it easier to write recursive type aliases.



Albeit, Microsoft recommends that recursive types should be used sparingly, and of course, responsibly. Other additions to TypeScript 4.1 beta, includes:

  • JSDoc tag @see now has better support in editors for JavaScript and TypeScript.
  • React 17 framework’s jsxscode factory functions are supported via two new options for the jsxcode compiler, react-jsx and react-jsxdev options.
  • The paths option can now be used without baseUrl, to avoid an issue in which poor paths are used by auto-imports.
  • In TypeScript 4.1 beta, checkJs now implies allowJs, which fixes the situation in which starting a checked JavaScript project required both allowJs and checkJs, which resulted friction.


Additionally, in the breaking change, members marked as abstract can't be marked as async and resolve parameters are no longer optional in Promise. And there is a new flag, --noUncheckedIndexedAccess, that provides a node where every property access or indexed access is considered potentially undefined.

The flag is capable of catching out-of-bounds errors, though it might be noisy for a lot of code. And it is not automatically enabled by the --strict flag.

How to Get Started with TypeScript 4.1 beta



If you want to give TypeScript 4.1 beta a spin, it can be accessed via NuGet or NPM, using the below command:

npm install typescript@beta


And the release candidate for TypeScript 4.1 is due in October, while TypeScript 4.0, which is the current major release, arrived in August.

Microsoft’s planned upgrade to TypeScript open-source language

ZeroLogon, a recently disclosed privilege escalation bug in Microsoft's Netlogon Remote Control Protocol for Domain Controllers (MS-NRPC), with a 10.0 out of 10 severity rating, also affects Linux systems.

The privilege escalation vulnerability is due to the insecure use of AES-CFB8 encryption for Netlogon sessions, which allows remote attackers to establish connection to the targeted domain controller over Netlogon Remote Protocol.

While Samba, an SMB networking protocol for Linux systems versions 4.8 (and above) are vulnerable if they have the "server schannel" parameter set to either "no" or "auto", which also, versions 4.7 and below are vulnerable if they've set up "server schannel = yes" in the smb.conf configuration file.

How ZeroLogon Vulnerability affects both Windows Server and Linux Systems



Zerologon is tracked as (CVE-2020-1472) and was discovered by Tom Tervoort of Secura, which privilege escalation vulnerability exists as a result of the insecure usage of AES-CFB8 encryption for Netlogon sessions, thus allowing remote attackers to establish a connection to the targeted domain controller over Netlogon Remote Protocol (MS-NRPC).

The flaw exploits an authentication protocol that validates the identity and authenticity of a domain-joined computer to the Domain Controller, which due to the incorrect use of an AES mode of operation, makes it possible to spoof the identity of the computer account and set empty password for that account in the domain.



Also, an implementation of SMB networking protocol for Linux systems called Samba is vulnerable to the Zerologon flaw. With Samba versions 4.8 and above vulnerable if the "server schannel" parameter is set to either "no" or "auto"; and versions 4.7 and below are vulnerable if set as "server schannel = yes" in the smb.conf configuration file.

The Samba system messaging block file server is used as a domain controller for Windows networks, and is also susceptible to the CVE-2020-1472 ZeroLogon vulnerability, which vulnerability has a CVSS score of 10.0, and was first disclosed to the public as Microsoft released a patch in August.

How to Mitigate against the ZeroLogon Vulnerability



Microsoft is tackling the flaw in two stages, with the first patches released in August, and second phase includes the tightening up of NRP security with enforcement mode set to on by default.

The vendors of Samba are advised to add the settings as follows: for versions 4.8 and above the "server schannel" parameter should be set to either "no" or "auto"; while versions 4.7 and below set as "server schannel = yes" in the smb.conf configuration file. And users are recommended to update their software to the latest software from Microsoft as soon as possible.

ZeroLogon Vulnerability affecting SMB networking protocol for Linux systems

Artificial Intelligence (AI) has become part of our daily life. All around us, the works of AI are evidence, from photo sensors in automatic lights, to automated parking systems, and even personal assistants like Siri and Amazon's Alexa.

Similarly, there’s been a notable impact of AI to the education sector. Education is becoming more personalized and convenient with the introduction of AI in this field. The introduction of AI has brought tremendous changes, including the use of innovative aids via computers, smartphones, and tablets for learning.

Such innovations make it possible for students to study from anywhere as long as they have internet connectivity, unlike the traditional classroom setup. Also, it has led to the automating of administrative tasks, allowing eductaional institutions to save on time. Find out more about this topic on 123 Homework.

5 Ways Artificial Intelligence (AI) is Changing the Education Sector



Below are 5 Ways Artificial Intelligence (AI) transformed the education industry.

1. Simplifying Administrative Tasks



Some of the administrative functions in academic institutions often eat up the teacher’s time using conventional methods. However, with the introduction of Artificial Intelligence, duties like assessing homework, grading papers, and giving students valuable feedback, don’t have to take long.

The automation of activities like grading exams and analyzing a student’s performance helps save time, making it possible to engage in other valuable learning activities. That’s not enough. Software developers have numerous developments to make the learning process and administrative processes as smooth and effective.

2. Smart Content



The issue of having smart content is a subject of hot discussion today. The use of this technology has found its way into the classroom setting. Video lectures and video conferencing are some of the examples of smart content.

Similarly, AI redefines the use of textbooks by using complex algorithms to restructure and create custom textbooks and aids for different subjects. The use of AI has led to the rise of digitized textbooks with appealing interfaces convenient for students in different grades.

3. Personalized Learning



With the introduction of AI in the education sector, technology can offer personalized recommendations for every pupil depending on their understanding and grade level. The technology also creates custom in-class assignments for the students and the final exams making it fair for students to get the assistance they need to make the best out of learning.



According to research, instant feedback is a critical element that ensures successful tutoring. By the use of AI-powered applications, students can receive custom responses from teachers. Another advantage of AI is that teachers can create flashcards and study guides for their lessons.

4. Global Learning



AI helps in eliminating physical boundaries because there is no limit to the education process. Technology allows a student to gain access to information no matter their geographical location.

And AI-powered education equips a student with fundamental IT skills. There are more courses available on the internet, thanks to Artificial Intelligence.

5. New Level of Efficiency



There are several ways AI is helpful in the school setup. For instance, a school can develop a way to prevent students from losing their way in crowded places by using AI.

Also, an institution can use AI to model complex data for enabling departmental operations and creating data-driven forecasts. As a result, this will allow for good planning in the future for the institution.

Conclusion



The impact AI has on technology is growing, and it will likely impact the whole learning process very soon. It’s only a short while before AI completely revolutionizes the entire education sector.

5 Ways Artificial Intelligence (AI) is Changing the Education Sector

Microsoft touted its new Edge feature called Sleeping Tabs, detailing how the feature works by showcasing the RAM and CPU usage test results with and without the feature enabled.

The 'Sleeping Tabs' feature also helps to extend device battery life and thereby reducing its power consumption with the background tabs set to idle state. With early internal testing of sleeping tabs on devices showing a median memory usage reduction of about 26% for Edge browser. Microsoft's internal testing has also shown that a normal background tab uses 29% more CPU for Microsoft Edge than a sleeping tab.

Albeit, the individual device performance varies depending on the different configuration and usage, even as the decrease in resource and battery usage is expected to create a better browsing experience for users as well.

How the Sleeping Tabs leads to Reduction in CPU and RAM consumption



The Sleeping tabs feature builds upon the core of Chromium’s “freezing” technology which pauses a tab’s script timers to minimize resource usage.



While the tab resumes automatically once clicked, which is different from discarded tabs, that require the page to fully be reloaded to be live again. The feature simply allows inactive tabs in the background to “go to sleep,” thereby releasing system resources, which resources include the RAM and CPU necessary for other applications running on the device.

And the tabs are set to go to sleep after two hours of inactivity by default, which you can also choose a different time interval from edge://settings/system when the tabs will go to sleep. These tabs that are asleep fades to show that they’ve released some resources.

How to manually set timeout for Sleeping Tabs in Microsoft Edge



The Sleeping Tabs feature is now available on Edge Canary and Dev Channels (87.0.649.0), so you'll need to update your browser to take advantage of the new tabs functionality.

Once you've updated to the Edge Canary and Dev bulids, you’ll have to visit edge://flags/ and enable the three flags present, after which, you’ll find the Sleeping Tabs option on edge://settings/system, where you'll be able to tweak the tab timer and manually add sites that you don’t want to go to sleep while inactive.

Chromium Edge achieves RAM Usage reduction of 26% via Sleeping Tabs

Firefox for Android has a bug that paves way for attackers over Wi-Fi to launch sites on a victim’s device, without any interaction from the user.

While the attack takes the form of a browser window on the target device launching without the users’ permission, it can also be used for other malicious activities, such as auto-playing video that were not initiated by the owner of the mobile device.

Originally discovered by security researcher Chris Moberly, the vulnerability resides in the Simple Service Discovery Protocol (SSDP) engine of Firefox for Android browser which can be exploited by hackers to target smartphones connected on the same Wi-Fi network as the attacker, with the Firefox browser app installed.

How Attackers can Hijack Firefox for Android via Wi-Fi Network



SSDP is a UDP based protocol which is a part of UPnP, used for finding other devices on a network. And Firefox browser on Android periodically sends out SSDP discovery messages to devices connected to the same network, seeking for second-screen devices to cast.



Devices on the local network can respond to the broadcasts, and provide location information, after which, Firefox attempts to access the location to find an XML file conforming to the UPnP specifications. Now, the SSDP engine of a victim's Firefox browser can be tricked into triggering an Android intent by simply replacing the location of the XML file in the response packet with a maliciously crafted message pointing to an Android intent URI.

Thus, any attacker connected to the same Wi-Fi network can run a malicious SSDP server on device and trigger intent-based commands on nearby Android devices via Firefox browser, without requiring any form of interaction from the victims.

How to Mitigate against the Firefox for Android bug



Mozilla has issued a patch for the Firefox for Android bug, with the release of Firefox for Android 79, and the direct successor to version 68.11.0. Therefore, it is recommended that all Firefox for Android users should update their browser to the latest browser version 79, or even better, version 80, immediately.

And you can verify if your Firefox for Android browser is up-to-date by navigating to “Settings -> About Firefox” and looking for the version number.

Firefox for Android bug that allow attackers hijack the browser via Wi‑Fi

Ubuntu Touch is the mobile operating system from UBports, which touts of respecting privacy and freedom of users, with Ubuntu Touch OTA-13 as the latest stable update to the mobile operating system.

While the previous release Ubuntu Touch OTA-12, brought a lot of new features and changes for many supported mobile devices, the latest Ubuntu Touch OTA-13 extends the support for more mobile devices with UI Improvements.

Ubuntu Touch OTA-13 update brought support for six additional mobile devices which includes: Sony Xperia X, Xperia X Compact, Xperia X Performance, Xperia XZ, OnePlus 3, and 3T.

What’s New in Ubuntu Touch OTA-13 Release?



Besides the UI improvements and additional devices supported, OTA-13 also brings the QtWebEngine, which has undergone a huge upgrade from the previous version 5.11 to the new version 5.14, with QTWebEngine 5.14 including a new version of Chromium in addition to the built-in Morph Browser.



There is also a speed boost of about 25% faster browsing experience on all Ubuntu Touch supported devices, and users can now select only the text they want from web pages using the touch handles, and also open downloaded text, PDF, MP3, and picture files directly on the browser.



Additionally, Ubuntu Touch OTA-13 also brought back the old icon-based System Settings main menu, which means that if the window is too small for a list-based layout, it'll automatically switch to an icon-based layout.

How to Upgrade to Ubuntu Touch OTA-13



Ubuntu Touch mobile OS can be installed on the supported devices using the UBports Installer and OTA through the official “Stable” update channel available in System Settings > Updates > Update Settings > Channels.

And if you want to install the OTA-13 update now, you should turn on ADB access and run the following command over adb shell:

sudo system-image-cli -v -p 0 --progress dots


However, if you already have the previous version of Ubuntu Touch installed, you can get the latest OTA-13 via the normal Updates in System Settings, but you'll have to wait until its officially available over the coming week.

Ubuntu Touch OTA-13 brings support for more mobile devices with UI Improvements

Swift was originally Apple’s proprietary language, before the company open-sourced it back in 2015, and now, Swift has finally arrived on Windows platform.

While Apple kept to the promise of making its hugely popular programming language, Swift open source, allowing anyone to modify and share the changes as they deem wise. Now, developers don't need to rely on the unofficial port for Windows, as the Swift team has released new toolchain images that can be downloaded for Windows 10 operating system.

Swift Programming language has been in development by Apple for many years, and it fully supports modern programming conventions, such as closures, generics, type inference, multiple return types and namespaces.

What the Porting of Swift to Windows means to developers



The porting of Swift to Windows is rather to ensure that the full ecosystem, including the compiler, the standard library, and the core libraries (dispatch, XCTest, and Foundation) are available on the Windows platform.



And these libraries are part of what developers need to code their applications with ease, without having to worry about the details of the underlying system. Albeit, there are many technicalities in the bringing of Swift to Windows, but the interoperability of Swift with C, makes it possible to develop apps purely in Swift while taking advantage of the extensive libraries on the Windows platform.

However, the bringing of Swift to Windows is just the beginning of the journey, as the current support is only in making the language usable; there is an even broader part of the ecosystem like lldb and the Swift Package Manager which still requires more work to be completely compatible with the Windows platform.

How to Get Started with Swift on Windows



If you are a developer and interested in helping push Swift on Windows forward, there is the Getting Started section that has been updated with new information about using Swift on Windows for the early adopters.

And for those who are interested in core tooling, there are ongoing works to improve the debugger and to improve Windows support in the Swift Package Manager. You can check out the Swift Bug Tracker for current issues and how to send patches to the GitHub repositories. Also, there is a new section on the Swift forums to discuss development of Swift on Windows.

Finally, Developers can now run Swift code On Windows

Linux Lite is one of the most popular lightweight Linux distribution, with the newly released Linux Lite 5.2 RC1 bringing several new changes such as Firewall management which is now accessible from Settings Manager, and other enhancements.

The new Linux Lite 5.2 RC1 is built on the upstream Ubuntu 20.04.1 running the latest Linux kernel 5.4.0-48, and as Linux Lite has added new entry to the boot menu list for OEMs, with the new v5.2 now focussing on the Grub menu image.

And this release gives a glimpse into the Final release, Linux Lite 5.2, with specific instructions from the new in-built Help Manual for all of the new features.

What's New in Linux Lite 5.2 RC1?



Linux Lite 5.2 RC1 introduces a number of changes including the management of Firewall and Lite Widget, making it accessible directly from Settings Manager for ease of use.



And given that it runs on the latest Linux kernel 5.4.0-48, it brings support for modern hardware, with several new software such as GIMP 2.10.18, Firefox 80.0.1, Thunderbird 68.10.0, LibreOffice 6.4.5.2, and VLC 3.0.9.2. Also, Linux Lite 5.2 RC1 has discontinued support for Adobe Flash with the removal of the software.

Additional software supported in Linux Lite 5.2 RC1 includes Zoom, SimpleScreenRecorder, and Microsoft Teams, which have been added to Lite Software.

How to Download Linux Lite 5.2 RC1 for testing



Linux Lite 5.2 RC1 is currently available for download as ISO Image and Torrent, and as a "Release Candidate" release, it is recommended for testing purposes only, therefore, you should not install it on your main system.

And before installing it, make sure your PC meets the minimum system requirements for Linux Lite, as follows: 1GHz processor, 768MB RAM and 8GB HDD/SD.

Linux Lite 5.2 First Release Candidate (RC1) is now available for testing

It's no longer news that Android 11 has finally been released, and there are several security and privacy features that you should know about this Google's latest mobile operating system.

Android 11, the latest mobile operating system offers users more control over their data with improved security and privacy features, even as Android security has always been a hotly debated topic, with Google's futile effort to prevent malicious apps from getting distributed via the Play Store.

Here, we've listed the top 7 Security and Privacy Features in Android 11 that You Need to Know, haven summarized some of the most critical security and privacy updates offered by Android 11.

7 Top Security and Privacy Features in Android 11



Google has done a pretty remarkable job of keeping Android on top of the security issues, which is perhaps the biggest feat in this latest release, by taking significant steps to improve the security and privacy of users on the mobile operating system.


Below are the 7 Top Security and Privacy Features in Android 11.

  1. Unused app permissions Revoking: The app permissions system in Android 11 has undergone some major improvements, one of which is that when you've granted permissions to apps, and you don't happen to use the app for a certain period of time, like say a few months, the permissions will automatically be revoked and you only have to re-enable manually if still needed.
  2. One-time app permissions: Also, there is now a temporary app permission, which means that users can now grant certain app permissions on an "Only This Time" basis, or a case-by-case basis.
  3. App permissions Blocked: Android 11 offers a new security feature that will block any app from requesting permissions when a user denies the app permissions twice. After the denial of permission twice, the app can only get the permissions if the user decides to give it manually for the app to function properly.
  4. Scoped Storage: Scoped Storage adds a new set of rules regarding how apps are allowed to access storage, and it creates isolated sandboxes for apps, so that it can no longer require additional permissions to write files.
  5. Availability of critical OS security patches via Play store: Google has increased the Play Store app's integration, allowing it to download and install OS security patches as modules, just like apps are updated directly from Google's servers.
  6. Restrictions on Unnecessary Background Location Access: If an app requests access to your location, Android 11 will ensure that it first grants only the foreground location, and when it requires access to the location again from the background, the app has to make a new separate permission request.
  7. Improved GPS privacy: Google has introduced GnssAntennaInfo class with Android 11 to help in securing GPS tracking and associated privacy risks.


Additionally, there is now improvements to the BiometricPrompt API, including Call Screening and secure audio capture from USB device.

7 Top Security and Privacy Features in Android 11 that You Need to Know

EndeavourOS has announced a new ISO release for its regular desktop distro, EndeavourOS 2020.09.19 with updated Linux kernel 5.8.10-arch1-1, improved installation process, and i3-WM window manager.

While the much-expected EndeavourOS ARM is a new Arch Linux-based operating system for ARM processors, that comes with eight desktop environments including GNOME, Xfce, LXqt, MATE, Cinnamon, Budgie, KDE Plasma, and i3-WM.

The EndeavourOS ARM version is currently being tested on ARM-based Single Board Computers (SBCs) like Odroid N2, Raspberry Pi 4b, N2+, and XU4, and it's also installable on any platform supported by upstream Arch Linux ARM.

What's the system requirements for EndeavourOS ARM?



EndeavourOS ARM is for ARM-based SBCs such as Odroid N2, Odroid N2+, Raspberry Pi 4b, and XU4. Albeit, EndeavourOS ARM can run on any ARM device but the ARM devices have to meet certain specifications for smooth performance.



Before installing EndeavourOS ARM, you should make sure that your device meets the following hardware specifications:

  • Quad CPU with 1.5GHz+
  • Archlinux ARM supported device
  • 2 USB 3.0 ports (external drives) and additional USB 2.0 ports for peripherals
  • Minimum of 2GB of RAM


    • Additionally, you'll need a 1Gbit Ethernet connector, with two stages of installation to complete: firstly, installing Archlinux ARM base, and secondly, for running a script that guides you through the installation process to install EndeavourOS as a headless server or as a Desktop machine.

    How to Get Started with EndeavourOS ARM version



    For the first step, there is an automated script for tested devices and for the untested devices, you can refer to the manual instructions from Archlinux ARM to the install image for Arch, or in the case of the Pinebook Pro, that provided by Pine64.

    The full manual installation guides for EndeavourOS ARM on supported devices can be found here, and it also includes a special guide for Pinebook Pro, PINE64, and Rock64 hardware.

EndeavourOS 2020.09.19 Release arrives alongside new ARM version

Fuzz testing implies a method of detecting bugs in software by feeding unexpected inputs to target program, which could be very effective at finding memory corruption issues which are often the cause of serious security problems.

While Project OneFuzz is the testing framework used in-house by Microsoft for Edge browser and Windows debugging, and now made available as an open-source tool via GitHub for all developers to use.

According to Microsoft, fuzz testing is effective for improving code quality, which is a perfect standard for finding and removing exploitable security vulnerabilities, and increasing the security and reliability of native code.

What the release of Project OneFuzz as open-source means to developers?



Microsoft’s aim of releasing of Project OneFuzz as open-source is to enable developers to easily and continuously fuzz test their code before its final release, and the global release of Project OneFuzz is intended to help secure the platforms and tools that we all depends to carry out our daily digital tasks.



Already, Project OneFuzz has enabled continuous developer-driven fuzzing of Windows which allowed Microsoft to proactively secure the platform prior to shipment of the latest OS builds. It will allow developers to create unit test binaries with modern fuzzing lab which is compiled in a highly reliable test invocation, and detect errors with a single executable.

And developers can be able to launch fuzz jobs ranging in size from a few virtual machines to thousands of cores, with such enablements as: on-demand live-debugging of found crashes, programmatic triage and result deduplication, with crash reporting notification callbacks.

How to get Started with Project OneFuzz



Project OneFuzz is now available on GitHub under an MIT license for developers to try out! And it will be updated by contributions from both Microsoft Research and Security Groups, with input from other partner teams to expand fuzzing coverage and continuously improve the security of all platforms and products.

And Microsoft will continue to maintain Project OneFuzz by releasing updates to the open-source community as they occur.

Project OpenFuzz: Microsoft Azure fuzz testing framework now open-source

GitHub has released the first stable version of CLI 1.0, which is a new command-line tool for developers to interact with GitHub directly from local terminal.

After a 6-month beta that started in February, GitHub CLI 1.0 stable version has been released to help developers to reduce the frequent switching between the terminal and the GitHub portal, and allow them to focus more in building their workflows.

The beta program saw users creating over 250,000 pull requests, with 350,000 merges, and over 20,000 issues covered with GitHub CLI.

GitHub CLI 1.0 functionalities available for workflow



GitHub CLI 1.0 is now available for download on Windows, macOS, and Linux, which avails developers the use of GitHub CLI for their entire workflow.



The available functionalities for GitHub CLI 1.0 are as follows:

  • Easily Connect to GitHub Enterprise Server.
  • Ability to Run the entire GitHub workflow from terminal.
  • Call up the GitHub API to script any action and set a custom alias for commands.


Additionally, GitHub CLI 1.0 allows you to create aliases for any command using gh alias and you have the powerful gh api to access the GitHub API directly, with no limit to what you can do with gh. For more command details, you can check the official GitHub CLI manual.

How to install GitHub CLI 1.0?



As mentioned above, GitHub CLI 1.0 is available for Windows, macOS, and Linux. If you want to install the GitHub CLI, you'll simply need to run the following commands for the respective platform:

For Windows, the command is as follows:

scoop bucket add github-gh https://github.com/cli/scoop-gh.git scoop install gh


For macOS, the command is as follows:

brew install github/gh/gh


And the installation command for various Linux distributions is available here.

GitHub CLI 1.0 avails Developers full Repo functionalities on Terminal

Technology can be a huge help to any business and it can make work get done quickly, accurately and to a high professional standard, but with all the advantages there are also a lot of risks.

Whilst technology can help your business run smoothly if something goes wrong with that equipment, it could cause huge problems. It could even result in your whole business grounding to a halt, wasting your time, your colleagues time and even your customers time.

Below are three of the biggest online and technological threats to your business that you should prepare for now.

3 Biggest Technological and Online threats



1. System Failure





Just like a car, the technology system on which your business runs need maintenance. As the more you use it, and the older it gets, the more likely it is to break down and prevent you from completing the tasks you need to accomplish. So, you can reduce the risk of your system breaking down by giving it a regular service by a team of experts.

You mustn’t wait until your system breaks to try and find someone to repair the problem. By hiring an external IT service, you can rely on their expertise to reduce the risk of problems occurring. You’ll also need somebody on standby to fix any unexpected issue.

2. Cyberattacks



Another big problem to consider is the risk of cyber-attacks to your business. You might think that your business is too small to be the victim of a cyber-attack. What would any criminal want your data for? The sad reality is that even the smallest amount of personal or financial data is very attractive to a cybercriminal, and they’ll often go to long lengths to acquire it illegally from your system.

There are some very simple ways you can improve the security of your network to try and prevent these tasks. Make sure every system you use has a strong password. You could even make it, so a system needs two forms of verification, for example, a password and a code which is sent to a registered users phone, to gain access. Also, make sure you have a good firewall set up and anti-virus software available on every device.

3. Data loss





A cyber-attack isn’t the only risk to your company’s most valuable documents and information. If a hard drive breaks or a piece of equipment is lost or stolen, you could simply lose hundreds if not thousands of vital pieces of information. This is why it’s important to back up any data regularly.

Whether that’s saving copies to an external hard drive and keeping that drive in a secure location or setting up a system that automatically backs up your entire system, make sure you have copies of every document you need.

3 Biggest Technological and Online threats to any business

Java Development Kit (JDK) 15 is the next version of Java SE (Standard Edition), which is now available as a production release.

While the highlight features of JDK 15 include the Z Garbage Collector, text blocks, hidden classes, and previews of sealed classes, pattern matching, and records, among others.

And as JDK 15 is a short-term release, it will only be supported with Oracle Premier Support for six months; with the next release (JDK 16) scheduled to arrive next March. Meanwhile, JDK 17 will be the next Long-Term Support release to be supported by Oracle for eight years, and it's slated to arrive a year from now, given Oracle’s six-month release cycle for Java SE versions.

What's New in JDK 15?



JDK 15 features a foreign-memory access API, which enable Java programs to safely and efficiently access foreign memory outside of the Java heap. And the API operates on various kinds of foreign memory, such as persistent, native, and managed heap, with many Java programs accessing foreign memory, such as Ignite and MapDB.



The API would also help avoid the cost associated with garbage collection, sharing memory across processes, and serialize and deserialize memory content by mapping files on memory. Other new features and changes in JDK 15, includes:

  • A preview of sealed classes.
  • Records, which are classes that act as carriers for immutable data.
  • Cryptographic signatures based on the Edwards-Curve Digital Signature Algorithm (EdDSA).
  • Disabling biased locking by default and deprecating all related command-line options
  • The Z Garbage Collector (ZGC) graduates from an experimental feature to a product under this proposal.
  • Deprecation of the RMI Activation mechanism.


Additionally, there is the reimplementation of the legacy DatagramSocket API by replacing the underlying java.net.datagram.Socket and java.net.MulticastSocket APIs with more modern implementations that are easy to debug and maintain, with virtual threads currently being explored in Project Loom.

How to get Started with JDK 15



Oracle has mapped out the upgrades for Java, including the open-source reference implementation of version 15 of the Java SE Platform as part of a new, six-month release schedule for standard Java. Therefore, developers can take a look at JDK 15 in order to get an idea of what is expected in JDK 16.

You can also join the early adopter program by downloading the beta versions of JDK 16 to give it a spin.

JDK 15: What's New in the next version of Java Development Kit?

Oracle has open-sourced its Tribuo Java machine learning library, and makes it available free under an Apache 2.0 license; which tool is developed by Oracle Labs, and now accessible on GitHub and Maven Central.

While Oracle is looking to make it easier for developers to build and deploy machine learning models in Java, as it has already happened with Python, and meeting enterprise needs in the machine learning space.

Tribuo offers standard machine learning functionality which includes algorithms for building and deploying classification, clustering, and regression models in Java, with interfaces for TensorFlow, XGBoost, and ONNX.

How Tribuo can be useful in Natural language processing?



As Tribuo includes pipelines for transformation of data and provides a suite of evaluations for supported prediction tasks, and also collects statistics on inputs, it can describe the range of every input, with features like, managing IDs and outputs to avoid ID conflicts and confusion for chaining models.



Tribuo model identifies a feature when seen for the first time, which is particularly useful in working with natural language processing, and the models knows exactly what outputs are, with the outputs being strongly typed, therefore Developers don't have to wonder whether a float is a probability, regressed value, or a cluster ID.

The provenance system in Tribuo can also generate a configuration that rebuilds the training pipeline to reproduce the model, with a tweaked model that can be built on new data or hyperparameters, allowing users to always know what a model is, where it came from, and how to create it.

Tribuo filling a gap for machine learning in Enterprise applications



Oracle believes that Tribuo can fill a gap in the marketplace for machine learning for enterprise apps, whereas the Google-built TensorFlow library already provides core algorithms for deep learning, Tribuo can offer several machine learning algorithms, which are in not available in TensorFlow.

And also providing an interface to TensorFlow, with the Apache Spark analytics engine for large, distributed systems, Tribuo will be ideal for smaller computations on a single machine.

Additionally, Tribuo provides interfaces to XGBoost and the ONNX runtime, along with to TensorFlow, allowing models trained in TensorFlow and XGBoost or stored in the ONNX format to be deployed alongside native Tribuo models, which support allows deployment in Java of models using popular Python libraries such as PyTorch.

Oracle open sources Tribuo Java machine learning library

The Cross-Transport Key Derivation (CTKD) component in Bluetooth is responsible for the authentication when pairing two devices together; now a group of academic researchers have disclosed a flaw in the CTKD supporting both Bluetooth BR/EDR and LE in Bluetooth Specifications 4.2 to 5.0.

While Bluetooth SIG, the organization that is saddled with the development of the Bluetooth standards have issued a statement confirming the flaw, which potentially is affecting hundreds of millions of devices worldwide.

The flaw is dubbed 'BLURtooth' and tracked as CVE-2020-15802, as it exposes devices powered with Bluetooth 4.0 or 5.0 technology, allowing hackers to gain unauthorized access to a targeted nearby device by overwriting the authenticated key, and thus reducing the encryption key strength.

The researchers from École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL) and Purdue University also identified that the CTKD may permit a remote access to some LE services when BR/EDR access is achieved and BR/EDR profiles when LE access is achieved. Albeit, given that this is the intended function of CTKD, these processes are not considered as vulnerabilities by the SIG.

How the BLURtooth Flaw affects Dual-mode devices using CTKD



Dual-mode devices that use CTKD to generate Long Term Keys (LTK) or Link Key (LK) are normally capable of overwriting the original LTK or LK in such cases where the transport was enforcing a higher level of security, and vulnerable devices must permit a pairing to proceed transparently without authentication, for any of the BR/EDR or LE transports to be susceptible to the attack.



The flaw leverages on the ability under specific implementations of the pairing process which could allow devices to overwrite authorization keys if the transport enforces a higher level of security.

And if a device becomes paired or bonded on a transport which is spoofing another device's identity and CTKD is used to derive a key which overwrites a pre-existing key of greater strength or that uses authentication, then access can be gained to the authenticated services.

How to Mitigate against the BLURtooth Attack



Bluetooth SIG has warned that the flaw may permit a Man In The Middle (MITM) attack between devices previously paired using authenticated pairing if those devices are both vulnerable. And they recommend the introduction of restrictions on CTKD mandated in Bluetooth Core Specification versions 5.1 and later as primary mitigation.

The company has also started to coordinate with affected vendors to help in releasing necessary patches, and they further recommends that devices should restrict when pairable on either transport to when a user interaction places the device into a pairable mode or when the device has no existing connections to a paired device.

Unpatched Bluetooth Flaw could allow Hackers target Nearby Devices

Microsoft Hypervisor (Hyper-V) is a virtualization technology developed by Microsoft which specifically serves as hardware virtualization, allowing users to run multiple operating systems virtually on Windows platform.

Now, Microsoft is looking to make Linux run as a root partition on its Hyper-V technology, with the company's engineer Wei Liu pushing out a series of patches to Linux’s Hyper-V code. While the RFC (request for comment) patches are aimed at making Linux run as a root partition (like Xen’s Dom0) on Hyper-V.

Hyper-V not only lets you run multiple virtual operating systems on the Windows platform, but also, it allows users to create virtual hard drives and network switches.

How Linux root partition support for Microsoft Hypervisor will work?



Microsoft is looking to create a complete virtualization stack with Linux and Microsoft Hypervisor, which will be a subsequent patch series to provide a device node (/dev/mshv) such that userspace programs can create and run virtual machines.



It also involves the porting of Virtual Machine Monitor (VMM) Cloud Hypervisor, and been able to boot a Linux guest with Virtio devices, which capabilities were added since late July. And as an RFC series, this implements only the absolutely necessary components that are required to get things running.

With a large portion of the series consisting of patches that augment hyperv-tlfs.h, which should be rather uncontroversial and can be applied right away.

The architecture documentation of Hyper-V implies that the root partition has direct access to physical I/O devices, so the virtualization stack in the root partition can provide a memory manager for virtualized I/O devices and management APIs. And the root partition for Microsoft Hypervisor is inspired by type-1 hypervisor (Xen), and Domain 0 (Dom0) of open source, which toolstack and drivers are for hardware that control virtual machines.

Microsoft looks to make Linux run as a root partition on its Hyper-V technology

Manjaro Linux team has announced a new point version, Manjaro 20.1 “Mikah” which is the latest release that supersedes the previous Manjaro 20.0 “Lysia” with more improvements, and refreshed user interfaces.

While Manjaro is designed to work "straight out of the box" with focus on user friendliness and accessibility, and Manjaro 20.1 “Mikah” has continued with the user-friendly-focus bringing its flagship Xfce, GNOME and KDE editions for the popular desktop Linux distribution.

And along with the support for the ZFS file system, Manjaro 20.1 has now enabled ZFS installation by providing the needed kernel modules.

What's new in Manjaro 20.1 “Mikah” Release?



Manjaro 20.1 has its default package manager, Pamac, updated from v9.4 to v9.5 and subsequently, results to an enhanced alpm error handling, optimized internal check dep algorithm, improved database performance, and better internal search algorithm.



Also, Manjaro has added AUR (Arch User Repository) package building to version 20.1, to build packages from the Arch User Repository and install as many packages as possible. And on the desktop environment, Manjaro 20.1 continues the offer of three distinct ISO images for Xfce, KDE, and GNOME desktops.

Additionally, Manjaro 20.1 has packed KDE-based apps from KDE 20.08 application bundle, with KDE edition switched from its Plasma desktop from version 5.18 to the latest 5.19.

How to Upgrade to Manjaro 20.1 “Mikah” Release



Manjaro being a rolling release Linux distro, means that you only need to update your package database and all the packages on the system to switch to the new version, by simply running the following command in your terminal:

sudo pacman -Syu


But, you can also use the below command to force a full refresh of the package database and update the packages on the system.

sudo pacman -Syyu



And the three different ISO images with Xfce, KDE, and GNOME desktop can be downloaded from the official site.

Manjaro 20.1 “Mikah” Release: Build Packages from Arch Linux’s AUR (Arch User Repository)

C++20 is the moniker for the revision of the ISO/IEC standard, which follows C++17, for the C++ programming language.

While the standard have received final technical approval by WG21 at the meeting in Prague in February 2020 and now undergoing final editorial work, following the approval of the draft on 4th September 2020.

C++ remains a very important language, and it is voted the fastest-growing language in the Tiobe Index of September 2020, where it ranks fourth behind C, Java, and Python. And Tiobe cites the C++ 20 specification as the major factor that gave the programming language a boost.

What's New in C++ 20?





C++20 brings new major features which were formerly not available in C++14 or C++17, with some changes that have been accepted into and those that have been discussed for inclusion into C++20. The new major capabilities in C++ 20 include:

  • Synchronization library, for better support of fine-grained hardware control.
  • Concepts to specify template requirements and support generic programming, which promises to improve code quality.
  • Coroutines helps to generalize subroutines for use in nonpreemptive multi-tasking. Though the standardized support for coroutines is still lacking, as the full support is expected in C++ 23.
  • Expansion statements for compile-time repetition of a statement for each element of a tuple, array, class, parameter pack, or range.
  • Improvements in the context-sensitive recognition of import and module to aid non-compiler tools to determine build dependencies.
  • Modules that enables programmers to use modular components.


Additionally, the new rangified algorithms which is a pure library extension of the Standard, with the paper complements P0896 adding rangified overloads for some of the non-parallel additions to since C++14, from whence the Ranges TS took its algorithms.

Also, the contracts capability which was expected in C++ 20 that specify pre-conditions, post-conditions, and assertions, have been removed. Therefore, Contracts has been marked as a C++ 23 item, albeit it may not make it to the final release.

C++ 20 Gets Technical Approval with features such as Modules and Coroutines

Deepin Linux team has released the stable version of Deepin 20 series, dubbed Deepin v20 (1002), with major improvements ranging from new aesthetic design, and dual-kernel system, among others.

While Deepin 20 Beta release, which was originally scheduled for January 2020 release date, but arrived 3 months after brought a unified design style, with redesigned desktop environment and applications, bringing a new interactive experience.

Deepin is perhaps one of the most beautiful Linux distro, with the Deepin 20 Stable release, which is the latest major version of the desktop environment bringing new visual look to the base repository, and the latest Linux kernel.

What’s New in Deepin V20 (1002)?



Deepin Linux distro is based on the popular upstream Debian GNU/Linux, which means that the new Deepin 20 (1002) has its underlying repository upgraded to the latest Debian 10.5.



It has added support for dual kernel installation, allowing users to have dual kernel options, including: Linux Kernel 5.7 (Stable) and Kernel 5.4 (LTS) in the system installation interface with their “Safe Graphics” modes. And Deepin 20 improvised design of Desktop Environment (DDE) and system installer, makes the desktop more user-friendly and the newly introduced colorful icons, graphics interface, offers an exquisite multitask view.

Deepin has also made the design of the system installer simpler and the system installer can now detect NIDIVIA cards to offer closed-source drivers to be installed. With the added support for a variety of authentication features, including fingerprint readers to deliver accurate fingerprint recognition.

The fingerprint options in Deepin Linux is for several purposes such as logging in, unlocking, identity verification, and getting root permissions.

How to Upgrade to Deepin 20 (1002)?



Deepin 20 (1002) ISO image is now available for download from the official download page, and if you’re an existing user on Deepin 15.11, you can upgrade to V20 (1002) by changing your source in
/etc/apt/sources.list

to
deb [by-hash=force] https://community-packages.deepin.com/deepin/ apricot main contrib non-free


And add the official source for the app store in
/etc/apt/sources.list.d/appstore.list


But if the file does not exist, you can create a new one and add the line below:

deb https://community-store-packages.deepin.com/appstore eagle apps


You can also watch the official promo video of Deepin 20 (1002) here for further guidance on available features.

Deepin 20 Stable release brings new Aesthetic Design and Dual-kernel System

Microsoft’s Visual Studio Codespaces will soon be incorporated into GitHub Codespaces, which service will provide hosted Visual Studio Code environments on GitHub, with the current Azure-based offering to be retired in February 2021.

While the Visual Studio Codespaces provide cloud-hosted development environments on Microsoft Azure, the service will be moved because the company believes that transitioning to a codespace from a repository is the most-criticized part of the workflow.

Given that the vast majority of developers preferred a native, and integrated, one-click access experience, which GitHub as the home of 50 million developers can address the issue.

How Visual Studio Codespaces will compliment GitHub Codespaces



GitHub Codespaces is currently a limited public beta, which means that developers need to apply into the program. And if a developer connect to a GitHub Codespace through the Visual Studio Code editor, it will prompt to add a GitHub account to the beta.

GitHub Codespaces


For an optimized experience on GitHub repos, developers can also use Git repos hosted elsewhere, such as on Microsoft Azure or Bitbucket, which requires only a few additional configurations. And the Private Preview for Visual Studio and Windows SKU support will also be moving over to GitHub as part of the service consolidation.

Albeit, Microsoft will continue to support the Private Preview in the current service until the consolidation is complete, after which all Private Preview users will then be moved to GitHub Codespaces.

How current Visual Studio Codespaces users can move to the GitHub beta?



GitHub Codespaces is still in limited public beta, therefore, there is no charge for it. The pricing for GitHub Codespaces may be announced after Codespaces gets a general availability status, which is expected later in the year.

And for a Visual Studio Codespaces user to move to the GitHub beta, there is need to provide the GitHub account you’d like to be added to GitHub Codespaces beta. Then, you will be contacted in one of the following ways, either via the form indicated in the service retirement announcement e-mail. Or upon connection to a Visual Studio Codespace, you’ll be prompted via a notification toast to provide your information.

If you are successfully added to the GitHub Codespaces beta, you’ll then be able to create a codespace from any of your GitHub repositories directly.

Microsoft’s plan to incorporate Visual Studio Codespaces into GitHub Codespaces

NuTyX is a GNU/Linux distribution with high flexibility, leveraging on the collections and groups concepts, built from “Linux From Scratch” project with own custom package manager.

While NuTyX has announced a new version, NuTyX 11.6 release that follows the previous version NuTyX 11.5 released in May 2020, with upgraded ‘Cards’ - which is the custom package manager.

Also, the package manager allows you to install individual binary packages or group of related binary packages, which NuTyX has made possible with the availability of Flatpak.

What's New in NuTyX 11.6 Release?



Besides the upgraded custom package manager, ‘Cards’ from version 2.4.115 to 2.4.122, users can now install more packages, like Flatpak packages, using the universal Flatpak package management utility.

NuTyX 11.6


NuTyX has also updated its supported desktop environments, including KDE Plasma 5.19.5, MATE 1.24.1, and Xfce 4.14.1, with its own framework 5.73.0 and application bundle 20.08.1. While on the core component, NuTyX 11.6 comes with the Long-Term Support (LTS) kernel 4.19.143 and latest stable kernel 5.8.7.

And the ‘kernel-419’ package in NuTyX has replaced the ‘kernel-lts’ package, it now includes four versions of the LTS kernel along with the last stable kernel, like kernel 4.9, 4.14, 4.19, 5.4, and 5.8, with VirtualBox and NVIDIA graphics card drivers also available for all five kernel versions.

How to Upgrade to NuTyX 11.6 Release?



For existing users of NuTyX Linux distro, you can simply run the following single command to upgrade your system to the latest version NuTyX 11.6:

sudo cards upgrade


But if you are a new user, and want to install NuTyx from scratch, you can download the ISO images which are available in “Fixed” and “Rolling” releases for both 64-bit and 32-bit versions.

NuTyX 11.6 Release: Linux From Scratch project with custom Package Manager

Raccoon attack


Transport Layer Security (TLS), and its now-deprecated predecessor, Secure Sockets Layer (SSL), are cryptographic protocols that provide communications security on a computer network.

While several versions of the protocols are employed in widespread use for applications like email, instant messaging, web browsing, and voice over IP. Now, there is a new timing vulnerability in TLS protocol, as disclosed by a group of researchers that could potentially allow attackers to break the encryption to read sensitive communication under certain conditions.

The vulnerability, dubbed "Raccoon Attack," is a server-side attack that exploits a side-channel in the cryptographic protocol on versions TLS 1.2 and lower to extract shared secret key used for secure communications.

How Raccoon Attack leads to Leak of Secret Keys



The vulnerability relies on precise timing measurements and specific server configuration, and it uses the time measurements to compromise a cryptosystem; also employing the same strategy for the Diffie-Hellman (DH) key exchange process during TLS handshake, which is necessary in sharing data securely over a public network.



And the handshake messages between a client and server is recorded, and thus, used to initiate new handshakes to the server, while subsequently measuring the time which it takes for the server to respond to the operations in deriving the shared key.

Now, the shared secret key which is generated during the exchange enables secure browsing, and allows users to safely navigate through websites by protecting the network communications against man-in-the-middle (MitM) attacks.

How Browser and Web technology vendors have responded to the Raccoon Attack



F5 specializes in application services and application delivery networking, and several of their products were found to be vulnerable to a "special" version of the Raccoon attack (CVE-2020-5929) which doesn't resort to timing measurements by directly observing the contents of server responses, so the company has released a patch to thwart the attack by addressing the concern with ephemeral key reuse.

And browser vendors, like Microsoft, Mozilla, and OpenSSL have all released patches to thwart the attack, with Mozilla on its part, haven turned off DH and DHE cipher suites in Firefox browser, and Microsoft recommending that Edge users should disable TLS_DHE.

Raccoon Attack: Server-side attack exploiting a side-channel in the SSL/TLS protocol



Mobian OS is an open-source project that aims to bring Debian GNU/Linux to mobile devices, including the PINE64 devices, PinePhone and PineTab.

While Debian GNU/Linux is among the oldest Linux-based operating systems which boasts of rock-solid stability, and a very large community support; but you can't install pure Debian directly on smartphones or tablets, as it requires hardware-specific customizations to run smoothly on such devices.

Now, Mobian OS has been ported to run on PINE64 devices, including PinePhone and PineTab, as the Mobian team announced that along with PinePhone, they have started to build images for Linux-based tablet, PineTab.

What are the features of Mobian OS?



Mobian OS is an open-source project that aims to bring Debian GNU/Linux on modern mobile devices, featuring the Phosh (Phone shell) user interface developed by Purism for its Linux phone Librem 5.



Its base system uses pure Debian 11 ‘Bulleye’ built for ARM64-based devices, and it uses a powerful tool, called debos, to create a custom Debian image, with Mobian packs standard Dеbіаn расkаgеs and ѕоmе GNОМЕ аррlісаtіоnѕ to carry out specific tasks. You can For a check out this GitLab package repository for full list of supported applications.

Mobian OS is currently targeted at Linux-based PinePhone and PineTab to provide a fully-functional mobile devices with open source and powerful Debian Linux, albeit, Mobian in the near future can also aim to port to other mobile devices and tablets.

How to Download & Install Mobian OS?



Mobian OS is currently available for PinePhone and therefore, if you own any edition of PinePhone and wish to give it a try, you can download the prebuilt images and follow the Mobian installation guides for PinePhone available here to get started.

And if you’re a developer and wish to build custom Debian images for your device, you can check out the repo. Also note that Mobian maintains mobian-recipes repository with debos recipes to generate Debian-based images for all supported mobile phones.

Mobian OS: Brings Debian GNU/Linux to PINE64 devices, PinePhone and PineTab

Quantum computing is a relatively new field which has algorithms built from wiring up logic gates; including vector and matrix mathematics, Dirac notation, Pauli measurements, quantum circuits and the qubit.

While the likes of Microsoft, IBM, and Google have all made major investments in building their own quantum computing software or hardware; Amazon until recently, has been fairly silent about its stance on quantum computing, but that has changed with the announcement of Amazon Braket.

Braket is Amazon's inroad into making quantum computers developed by other vendors available to its cloud users via AWS, with the service currently supporting three quantum computing services, namely: Rigetti, IonQ, and D-Wave.

What's Amazon Braket all About?



Braket is a fully-managed service to help Amazon users to easily get involved with quantum computing, which includes three modules: Build, Test, and Run. With the Build module centering around managed Jupyter Notebooks which are pre-configured with sample algorithms, and developer tools, such as the Amazon Braket SDK.

Amazon Braket


The Test module, on the other hand, provides access to high-performance, and managed quantum circuit simulators. While the Run module offers on-demand access to different types of quantum computers (QPUs), including gate-based quantum computers from Rigetti and IonQ, and quantum annealer from D-Wave.

Albeit, the tasks may not run on the QPU immediately, as the QPUs can only execute tasks during the execution windows.

How to enable Amazon Braket with Notebooks



Amazon Braket is perhaps the easiest way to get into the quantum computing and simulators waters, but as the Noisy Intermediate Scale Quantum (NISQ) phase of quantum computing still persists, you don’t really need to expect much useful results from Braket.

In order to use Braket, you'll need to first enable it in your AWS account, and then you have to create a notebook instance. While noting that such Notebooks use Amazon SageMaker. Once you open the notebook, you'll need to enter new code or use one of Amazon’s examples.

And you'll need to check the status of the QPU devices, as they are not always available. Braket’s current QPU offerings are quite modest, with the 2048-qubit D-Wave annealer as mostly useful for optimization problems, which is about half the size of D-Wave’s latest-generation annealer and the 30-qubit Rigetti Aspen-8 is too small.

The 11-qubit IonQ QPU, has relatively long coherence times, which is way too small to implement the algorithms for quantum computers that should possess useful quantum supremacy, like Shor’s algorithm for finding the prime factors of an integer and Grover’s algorithm for finding the inverse of a function.

Definitely, we’ll still need more qubits, less noise, and longer coherence times, all of which are being actively researched to get any meaningful result with Braket.

Amazon Braket: Brings Quantum Computing to its Cloud users via Amazon Web Services

Zorin OS is a Linux-based operating system designed for users who are new to the Linux platforms, with built-in features that allows them to change the UI to resemble the familiar Microsoft Windows or MacOS system.

While Zorin OS is becoming popular with the Zorin OS 15 series haven received over 1.7 million downloads since its first debut in June 2019. Now, the Zorin team has announced new point version, Zorin OS 15.3 which is the third iteration of the Zorin OS 15 series, and the most advanced and popular release ever.

It will further enhance the Zorin OS stronghold by bringing updated software, for better security and hardware compatibility.

What’s New Zorin OS 15.3 Release?



Zorin OS 15.3 is based on the recently released Ubuntu 18.04.5 LTS, which offers better support for modern hardware, and promises software updates and security patches until April 2023.



And as a further improvement to its hardware compatibility, Zorin OS 15.2 has upgraded core Linux Kernel version from 5.3 to 5.4, which brings support for more hardware like the Intel 11th generation Core processors, and upcoming AMD CPUs/GPUs. Additionally, Zorin OS 15.3 has added improvements to the Zorin Connect app for Android, with such features as auto search for devices on trusted Wi-Fi networks, and quick buttons to send files.

Zorin OS also includes the newest stable LibreOffice 6.4.6, which brings better compatibility with Microsoft Office, better performance boosts, and more utility features.

How to Upgrade to Zorin OS 15.3



For a fresh installation, all available editions of Zorin OS including Lite, Core, Ultimate, and Education can be downloaded here, with the exception of the “Ultimate” variant, which comes at a cost of $39, while all the other editions are free.

If you are an exisiting user of Zorin OS 15 series, you can update your system to reach the new point version Zorin 15.3 by using the Software Updater or running the following command:

sudo apt update
sudo apt full-upgrade
sudo reboot


And for those who are using a Zorin series other than the Zorin OS 15, there is an official upgrade guide available here to help them upgrade to the new point version Zorin 15.3 release.

Zorin OS 15.3 Release: Brings Update to the core apps for faster and better experience



A group of researchers at ETH Zurich have disclosed an authentication flaw in Visa's EMV enabled payment cards that could allow cybercriminals to defraud cardholders as well as merchants by obtain funds illegitimately.

According to the researchers, the flaw is a PIN bypass attack that allows the hackers to leverage a stolen or lost credit card for authorizing high-value purchases without the knowledge of the card's PIN, and also trick a point of sale (PoS) terminal into an unauthenticated offline card transaction.

The flaw affects all contactless cards that use the Visa protocol, including Visa Debit and Credit cards, Visa Electron, and V Pay cards, and the researchers also tied it to the EMV protocols implemented by UnionPay and Discover cards as well. While MasterCard, and American Express, are not impacted by the vulnerability.

How ETH Zurich researchers exploited the flaw to mount a man-in-the-middle (MitM) attack



The international protocol standard for smartcard payment, EMV (short for Europay, MasterCard, and Visa), mandates that all larger amounts of money can only be debited from credit cards using a PIN code.

However, the process devised by the researchers exploits the flaw in the protocol to mount a man-in-the-middle (MitM) attack using an app that "instructs the terminal that PIN verification is not required because the cardholder verification was performed on the device" to gain access.



And the fact that the Cardholder verification method (CVM), which is employed in verifying if an individual that's attempting a transaction with a credit/debit card is the legitimate cardholder, isn't protected cryptographically from modification makes the attack possible.

How to Mitigate against PIN bypass attacks



The attack scenario proves that the PIN is actually useless for security in Visa contactless transactions, and the differences between the contactless payment protocols of MasterCard meant that MasterCard is more secure.

And as the flaw violates fundamental security properties such as authentication and guarantees on accepted transactions, the researchers have proposed three software fixes to the protocol to prevent PIN verification bypass attacks, including using Dynamic Data Authentication (DDA) in securing high-value online transactions and the use of online cryptogram in all PoS terminals, allowing offline transactions to be processed online.

PIN Verification Bypass Flaw affecting all contactless Cards on the Visa protocol



EndeavourOS is an Arch-based Linux distribution that offers almost vanilla and terminal-centric Arch experience, with the first stable version released on July 15, 2019, bringing a friendly GUI-based offline and online installer.

Now, the team has announced a new project that offers EndeavourOS for ARM computers, which is quite similar to the collaboration for EndeavourOS x86_64 and Arch Linux; the EndeavorOS ARM aims to provide same experience on devices running ARM (Acorn RISC Machine) based processors.

Albeit, EndeavourOS isn't the first Linux distribution to offer support for ARM processor architecture, as Linux distros such as Ubuntu, Arch Linux, and Manjaro, already provide images for ARM devices.

What to expect in EndeavourOS ARM Linux Distribution?



Although, there are no official information about the upcoming EndeavourOS ARM Linux Distribution, other than the announcement that the ARM distro will be launching on September 19, 2020.

However, the sneak peak that was shared by team members for the first Odroid-N2+ running EndeavourOS ARM (EOSARM) Linux Distribution, shows what it feels like running the OS on the ODROID-N2 which is a $79 hexa-core computer that uses the Amlogic S922X 12nm SoC, offering a quad-core ARM Cortex-A73 cluster and a dual-core ARM Cortex-A53 cluster with 4GB of 1320MHz DDR4 RAM.



And you will only be able to download EndeavourOS ARM images starting on September 19, 2020 from the new official website.

If you are a developer and would like to host a mirror, there are more information available here, and the guides that will help you with package and software development in Arch Linux ARM can be found here.

EndeavourOS ARM Version: What to expect in the upcoming Linux Distribution?

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