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States on Friday took action against Celsius Network, accusing the company, which purports to be one of the world's largest cryptocurrency lenders, of offering residents unregistered securities. From a report: Texas filed a notice seeking a hearing to determine whether to issue a cease and desist order against the company. The action means Celsius will have to show why it shouldn't be ordered to stop offering its products to state residents. The hearing is scheduled for February 14. Separately, New Jersey ordered Celsius to stop offering some of its products, which it also described as unregistered securities, effective November 1. The moves against Celsius come on the heels of similar actions against New Jersey-based competitor BlockFi taken by states including New Jersey, Texas and others in July, and in the week after Coinbase Global Inc. disclosed that the Securities and Exchange Commission had threatened to sue it if it offered its own yield product to depositors. Celsius had more than $24 billion in "community assets" at the beginning of September, the company said, which would make it one of the world's largest crypto lenders and interest-account providers, if not the largest. The company offers customers a yield of nearly 9% for deposits of U.S.-dollar stablecoins, such as Tether and USD Coin, as much as 6.2% for Bitcoin, and varying rates of interest on other cryptocurrencies.

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Federal Trade Commission chair Lina Khan signaled changes are on the way in how the agency scrutinizes acquisitions after revealing the results of a study of a decade's worth of Big Tech company deals that weren't reported to the agency. From a report: Tech's business ecosystem is built on giant companies buying up small startups, but the message from the antitrust agency this week could chill mergers and acquisitions in the sector. The FTC reviewed 616 transactions valued at $1 million or more between 2010 and 2019 that were not reported to antitrust authorities by Amazon, Apple, Facebook, Google and Microsoft. 94 of the transactions actually exceeded the dollar size threshold that would require companies to report a deal. The deals may have qualified for other regulatory exemptions. 79% of transactions used deferred or contingent compensation to founders and key employees, and nearly 77% involved non-compete clauses. 36% of the transactions involved assuming some amount of debt or liabilities. In a statement, Khan said the report shows that loopholes may be "unjustifiably enabling deals to fly under the radar."

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'If you don't get your timing right you get whacked round the back of the head' admits scrappy octogenarian

An 80-year-old Lancashire grandfather has gone viral on TikTok and Instagram in a video featuring him squaring off with a sparring aid for boxers.…

New insights into the end-Permian mass extinction 252 million years ago. From a report: The end-Permian mass extinction was a big deal. It was the largest mass extinction event ever and occurred 252 million years ago. A whopping 90 percent of all marine species and around 70 percent of their terrestrial kin were killed off. Over the years, there have been numerous efforts to look into this massive, world-changing event. The end-Permian mass extinction was coincident with mass eruptions in the Siberian Traps, and some potential scenarios include volcanism driving acid rain, volcanism triggering the burning of coal (which released greenhouses gases into the atmosphere), and a reduction in the availability of oxygen in the ocean, among others. However, a new paper relies on previously unused data and modeling to dig into the matter. In all, the study found that 36,000 gigatons of carbon -- mostly from volcanic sources -- were released into the atmosphere over a relatively short span of 15,000 years. This period also saw the global average temperature rise a staggering amount, from 25C to 40C. While researchers previously explored volcanism and carbon as potential causes for the massive extinction, this work provides more insight into the event, said Wolfram Kurschner, a geologist at the University of Oslo and one of the authors of the paper. "Until now, it was really difficult to quantify the amount of CO2 that was released to the atmosphere," Kurschner told Ars.

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Cosmologists have found signs that a second type of dark energy -- the ubiquitous but enigmatic substance that is pushing the current Universe's expansion to accelerate -- might have existed in the first 300,000 years after the Big Bang. From a report: Two separate studies -- both posted on the arXiv preprint server in the past week -- have detected a tentative first trace of this 'early dark energy' in data collected between 2013 and 2016 by the Atacama Cosmology Telescope (ACT) in Chile. If the findings are confirmed, they could help to solve a long-standing conundrum surrounding data about the early Universe, which seem to be incompatible with the rate of cosmic expansion measured today. But the data are preliminary and don't show definitively whether this form of dark energy really existed. "There are a number of reasons to be careful to take this as a discovery of new physics," says Silvia Galli, a cosmologist at the Paris Institute of Astrophysics. The authors of both preprints -- one posted by the ACT team, and the other by an independent group -- admit that the data are not yet strong enough to detect early dark energy with high confidence. But they say that further observations from the ACT and another observatory, the South Pole Telescope in Antarctica, could provide a more stringent test soon. "If this really is true -- if the early Universe really did feature early dark energy -- then we should see a strong signal," says Colin Hill, a co-author of the ACT team's paper who is a cosmologist at Columbia University in New York City.

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Tells clients it is tackling the issue

An IT recruitment agency says a "phishing scam" is behind a fake email sent to its customers with details on how to apply for a "Coronavirus Digital Passport."…

The Biden administration is preparing an array of actions, including sanctions [Editor's note: the link may be paywalled, alternative source], to make it harder for hackers to use digital currency to profit from ransomware attacks, WSJ reported Friday, citing people familiar with the matter. From the report: The government hopes to choke off access to a form of payment that has supported a booming criminal industry and a rising national security threat. The Treasury Department plans to impose the sanctions as soon as next week, the people said, and will issue fresh guidance to businesses on the risks associated with facilitating ransomware payments, including fines and other penalties. Later this year, expected new anti-money-laundering and terror-finance rules will seek to limit the use of cryptocurrency as a payment mechanism in ransomware attacks and other illicit activities. The actions collectively would represent the most significant attempt yet by the Biden administration to undercut the digital finance ecosystem of traders, exchanges and other elements that cybersecurity experts say has allowed debilitating ransomware attacks to flourish in recent years. Senior officials have said ransomware attacks this year have grown more severe than ever and represent a serious threat to critical infrastructure, including power operators, hospitals and banks. The Treasury Department declined to comment and the people familiar with the matter declined to specify the targets of sanctions. But to effectively disrupt illicit crypto transactions, Treasury would need to target the digital wallets that receive ransom transactions, the crypto platforms that help exchange one set of blockchain coins for another to obscure the culprits and the people that own or manage those operations, according to analysts who specialize in such transactions.

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Phonebox upgrade dishes out internet and more in Kensington and Chelsea

BT was joined by local dignitaries including the Mayor of Kensington to cut the silk sash on its 21st-century phone box that gives people access to free Gigabit Wi-Fi, rapid mobile phone charging, and free calls if needed.…

More than 60 cryptocurrency exchanges in South Korea must notify customers of a partial or full suspension of trading by Friday midnight, a week before a new regulation comes into effect. An anonymous reader writes: To continue operating, exchanges must register with the Financial Intelligence Unit by Sept. 24, providing a security certificate from the internet security agency. They must also partner with banks to ensure real-name accounts. Exchanges that have not registered must shut down services after Sept. 24, while those that have registered but failed to secure partnerships with banks will be prohibited from trading in won. "Should some or all services need to be closed, (exchanges) should notify customers of the expected closing date and procedures to withdraw money by at least seven days before the closure," the Financial Services Commision said earlier this week. It said this should be completed no later than Sept. 17.

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Tencent allowed users of its main WeChat social media service to link to rivals' content for the first time in years, taking initial steps to comply with Beijing's call to dismantle walls around platforms run by the country's online giants. From a report: From Friday, users who upgrade to the latest version of the messaging service can access external services such as Alibaba's Taobao online mall or ByteDance's video app Douyin, both of which were previously walled off from WeChat's billion-plus members. That applies however only to one-on-one messaging, not group chats nor Facebook-like Moments pages. While it's unclear whether the social giant has opened up more of its scores of online services, it's a major step for Tencent, which along with Alibaba and ByteDance controls vast swathes of China's internet. In a statement announcing the move Friday, Tencent said it will also provide ways for its users to report suspicious content, and work on features for sharing links in wider group discussions. China's top technology regulator has warned internet firms to stop blocking links to rival services, prising open so-called walled gardens in a broader campaign to curb their growing monopoly on data and protect consumers. The government has accused a handful of companies of unfairly protecting their respective spheres: Tencent in social media via WeChat, Alibaba in e-commerce with Taobao and Tmall and, more recently, ByteDance in video via TikTok-cousin Douyin.

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On-prem systems hold advantages in terms of known costs, say insiders

Cloud-based data warehouse darling Snowflake has launched its latest venture into financial services, while Teradata, something of a stalwart in data warehousing for banks and insurers, is attempting to broaden its appeal with machine learning implementations.…

Telegram has exploded as a hub for cybercriminals looking to buy, sell and share stolen data and hacking tools, new research shows, as the messaging app emerges as an alternative to the dark web. From a report: An investigation by cyber intelligence group Cyberint, together with the Financial Times, found a ballooning network of hackers sharing data leaks on the popular messaging platform, sometimes in channels with tens of thousands of subscribers, lured by its ease of use and light-touch moderation. In many cases, the content resembled that of the marketplaces found on the dark web, a group of hidden websites that are popular among hackers and accessed using specific anonymising software. "We have recently been witnessing a 100 per cent-plus rise in Telegram usage by cybercriminals," said Tal Samra, cyber threat analyst at Cyberint. "Its encrypted messaging service is increasingly popular among threat actors conducting fraudulent activity and selling stolen dataâ... as it is more convenient to use than the dark web." The rise in nefarious activity comes as users flocked to the encrypted chat app earlier this year after changes to the privacy policy of Facebook-owned rival WhatsApp prompted many to seek out alternatives. Launched in 2013, Telegram allows users to broadcast messages to a following via "channels," or create public and private groups that are simple for others to access. Users can also send and receive large data files, including text and zip files, directly via the app.

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Phrase is catnip for software market

UK government has tempted the ravenous software and consultancy supply market with £4bn in the name of "large-scale digital transformation programmes."…

Not always, but Swiss team says you can manage the risks

There's a fine line between getting hold of data that may be in the public interest and downright stealing data just because you can. And simply because the data is out there – having been stolen by online intruders and then leaked – does not mean it is right to use it.…

An anonymous reader quotes a report from InterestingEngineering: As global carbon emissions that stem from fossil fuels keep adding to our ever-growing climate change issue, energy companies have turned their focus on renewables to generate fuel. One of those companies is Synhelion from Switzerland. The company harnesses the energy of the heat of the sun and converts the collected carbon dioxide into synthetic fuels, in turn offering a green and sustainable solution. The system is quite genius. Synhelion uses a mirror field filled with heliostats to reflect the radiation of solar power. The radiation is then concentrated in the solar receiver and turned into clean, high-temperature process heat at around 2.732F (1.500C). Next, the produced heat is turned into a CO2 and H2O mixture in a thermochemical reactor. The end product, the syngas, is then turned into gasoline, diesel, or jet fuel with a gas-to-liquid technology process. What makes this sustainable is the fact that the company's thermal energy storage (TES) saves the excess heat after each process which keeps the operation going 24/7. And how does the solar receiver work? The company says the technology is inspired by nature. To reach ultra-high temperatures, the solar receiver mimics Earth's greenhouse gas effect. The chamber is filled with greenhouse gases that are usually water vapor or water and CO2 mixtures. After solar radiation collected with heliostats enters the chamber, the black surface of the chamber absorbs the heat, thermalizes, and re-radiates it. The greenhouse gas then absorbs the thermal radiation, acting as a heat transfer fluid (HTF), which can, later on, be turned into any type of liquid fuel. And liquid fuels are easy to transport which makes them low-cost compared to their solid counterparts. When there's no sun, the HTF flows through the TES in the opposite direction to recover the previously stored thermal energy. The hot HTF from the storage drives the thermochemical processes in the reactor that keeps the operation working. "The company states that through this technology, it can provide fuels at a cheaper price with a 50 to 100 percent lower carbon footprint compared to fossil fuels," the report adds. "In addition to Synhelion's aligned motives with the Paris Agreement's CO2 reduction targets, it is supported by larger industries looking to cut their emissions -- and eventually achieve net-zero -- by 2030."

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Jeff Bezos founded biz at the 'apex of the Big Tech tax avoiders'

Amazon says turnover from business "activities" in Britain went up by more than 50 per cent year-on-year during 2020, but the profit the organisation generated locally is again typically unclear.…

Forget productivity, find a way to unplug and recover

Software developers and IT workers can improve their sense of well-being and their perception of themselves if they partake in mindful breathing, a trio of boffins have found.…

Can we close the education divide? Maybe, but not by stuffing it with computers and smart boards

Register Debate This week's Register Debate tussled over the motion Technology widens the education divide. The results are in, and as you can see, we have a clear winner.…

So many stuck trains, so many cancellations. Giant blue screen of Nope, we salute you.

Bork!Bork!Bork! Microsoft Windows sums up the spirit of many readers today, in a railway-infused bork from Manchester.…

Razer has announced an update to its popular Huntsman lineup of mechanical keyboards that reduces input latency to "near-zero," the company claims. The Verge reports: [T]he newly announced Huntsman V2 and Huntsman V2 Tenkeyless (which omits the numpad, volume wheel, and media controls for a more compact board) both have a polling rate of 8,000Hz, meaning they can theoretically detect key presses eight times faster than the original Huntsman keyboards. Combined with the keyboards' optical switches, which use an infrared beam of light to sense when they've been pressed rather than metal contact points, Razer reckons the two new Huntsman keyboards will feel more responsive for gaming, especially when combined with a high-refresh rate monitor. In contrast, standard mechanical switches can suffer from what's known as a "debounce delay," when the keyboard has to take a moment to work out if a key has actually been pressed or not. Other improvements introduced with the V2 keyboards include new doubleshot PBT keycaps, which have a more durable design with legends that shouldn't wear away over time. The doubleshot design also allows the keyboard's programmable RGB backlighting to shine through the caps. There are seven preset lighting effects built into the keyboard, and you can customize them via Razer's software and save them to the board's firmware. Both keyboards are available with either Razer's clicky or linear optical switches. The linear switches have also seen improvements since the keyboard's first iteration, with the addition of a silicon sound dampener inside, and more lubricant to make them feel smoother to press. Razer also says it's improved the acoustics of the keyboards, with the addition of a new layer of sound dampening foam, and there's now a wrist rest included in the box with both keyboards. The full-size Huntsman V2 features a volume wheel and media controls on its top right, but only the smaller tenkeyless model has a detachable USB-C cable.

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