US airlines warn C-Band 5G could cause 'catastrophic disruption'

 

The airline industry claims a “catastrophic” event could unfold when AT&T and Verizon activate their new C-Band 5G networks. In a letter obtained by Reuters, the CEOs of several prominent passenger and cargo airlines, including Delta, United and Southwest, warn interference from 5G cell towers could affect the sensitive safety equipment on their planes.

"Unless our major hubs are cleared to fly, the vast majority of the traveling and shipping public will essentially be grounded," they state in the letter, which was sent to the heads of the White House Economic Council, Federal Aviation Administration and Federal Communications Commission, as well as Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg. "Immediate intervention is needed to avoid significant operational disruption to air passengers, shippers, supply chain and delivery of needed medical supplies."

The airlines have asked that AT&T and Verizon not offer 5G service within 2 miles of some of the country’s busiest and most vital airports. They’re also urging the federal government to ensure “5G is deployed except when towers are too close to airport runways until the FAA can determine how that can be safely accomplished without catastrophic disruption." The agency established 5G buffer zones at 50 airports on January 7th. 

www.engadget.com

Mozilla stops accepting cryptocurrency, Wikipedia may be next: Are dominos falling?

When the Mozilla Foundation took to Twitter on New Year's Eve to announce it was going to begin accepting cryptocurrency donations, it likely didn't think about potential blowback from one of its founders, but that's what it got. In response, Mozilla has said it's pausing cryptocurrency donations.

In his blog, Mozilla co-founder Jamie Zawinski, writer of the original tweet, said he's glad if he played even a small part "in getting them to rescind that terrible decision." Zawinski has long been critical of blockchain technology and cryptocurrencies, making note on his blog of Bitcoin's negative aspects as far back as 2013. 

"Anyone involved in cryptocurrencies in any way is either a grifter or a mark," Zawinski told me. "It is 100% a con. There is no legitimacy," he said. 

www.techrepublic.com

REvil ransomware gang arrested in Russia

Authorities in Russia say they have dismantled the ransomware crime group REvil and charged several of its members.

The United States had offered a reward of up to $10m (£7.3m) for information leading to the gang members, following ransomware attacks.

Russia's intelligence bureau FSB said the group had "ceased to exist". However, it does not appear that any Russian members of the gang will be extradited to the United States.

The agency said it had acted after being provided with information about the REvil gang by the US. According to the Russian state news service Tass, REvil "developed malicious software" and "organised the theft of money from the bank accounts of foreign citizens".

The FSB said it had seized more than 426 million rubles (£4m), including about £440,000 worth of crypto-currency. It also seized more than 20 "premium cars" which had been purchased with the proceeds of crime.

www.bbc.co.uk

Motorcycle Action Group (MAG) calls for national debate the state of Britain's roads

Every year, seventy-four motorcycle KSI reports (Killed or Seriously Injured) list poor road surface as a contributory factor.  Members of the Motorcycle Action Group (MAG) last year voted repair of potholes as their second-highest priority.  MAG is using National Pothole Day to once again call on national and local Government to come together to find innovative solutions to this problem.  For motorcyclists, solutions can literally mean the difference between life or death.

The issue of potholes on the UK road network is nothing new.  National Pothole Day was created in 2015 to raise awareness of the ever-growing pothole problem on our roads.

Established by StreetRepairs.co.uk, MAG supports the awareness campaign to rid Britain’s roads of the pothole blight. MAG regularly encourages members to report potholes and other surface issues and promotes innovative products and repair methods to the relevant authorities.  MAG also offers to advise local authorities on prioritising the potholes that cause greatest risk to riders.

Potholes on bends, in braking zones and at junctions can cause far more than inconvenience to riders.

www.mag-uk.org

Hotel chain switches from Windows and Mac to Chrome OS to recover from ransomware attack

A Scandinavian hotel chain that fell victim to a ransomware attack last month said it took a novel approach to recover from the incident by switching all affected systems to Chrome OS.

Nordic Choice Hotels, which operates 200 hotels across Northern Europe, fell victim to a ransomware attack on December 2, when hackers encrypted some of its internal systems using the Conti ransomware strain.

The attack prevented staff from accessing guest reservation data and from issuing key cards to newly arriving guests, as one of the hotel’s guests told The Record in an interview last month.

But in a press release, Nordic Choice said that instead of contacting the hackers and negotiating a ransom for the decryption key that would have unlocked the infected devices, the hotel chose to migrate its entire PC fleet from Windows to Chrome OS.

Nordic Choice said they used a tool called CloudReady, which can prepare and port old Windows and macOS computers to Chrome OS setups.

www.therecord.media

While we try to reduce our carbon footprint - thousands of aircraft fly EMPTY of passengers!

Brussels Airlines has operated 3,000 flights without passengers this winter to avoid losing take-off and landing slots.

The airline’s parent company, Lufthansa Group, confirmed that 18,000 flights had been flown empty, including 3,000 Brussels Airlines services, reports The Bulletin.

EU rules require that airlines operate a certain percentage of scheduled flights to keep their slots at major airports.

Under these “use it or lose it” regulations, prior to the pandemic carriers had to utilise at least 80 per cent of their scheduled take-off and landing slots.

This was revised to 50 per cent as coronavirus saw travel become increasingly difficult – but airlines are still struggling to hit this target.

FYI: How much fuel does an international plane use for a trip? A plane like a Boeing 747 uses approximately 1 gallon of fuel (about 4 liters) every second. Over the course of a 10-hour flight, it might burn 36,000 gallons (150,000 liters). According to Boeing's Web site, the 747 burns approximately 5 gallons of fuel per mile (12 liters per kilometer).

www.independent.co.uk

Why you should consider advanced motorcycle training

What is the deal with advanced rider training? Considering taking an advanced riding course but worried about what’s involved? Don’t be concerned, as it could be the best thing you have ever done. It could turn you into a safer, quicker biker while potentially saving money on your insurance, too.

When most riders hear the term ‘advanced riding course’ they tend to be put off slightly. Sometimes it’s because advanced riding sounds a bit intimidating and something that only the very best riders have the skills to complete.

For others it’s because they want to believe they’re already an advanced rider and can’t be taught anything new.

However in reality this is far from true in both cases.

Advanced riding isn’t all about increasing your corner speed, learning super-human overtaking skills or pushing your tyres to their limit. It’s focused on making you a safer, more confident rider who is able to identify hazards on the road and react accordingly before they develop into a potentially harmful situation.

So rather than thinking of it as advanced riding, think of it as the next progression in your motorcycle riding skills journey.

My club is IAM RoadSmart Solent - based at Wickham Community Centre. Our regular open day is SolentSunday. Come along for a ride assessment, it's also a major social event in our calendar and your opportunity, as a Group Member, to come along and meet your fellow Members. Click here to find out more about IAM RoadSmart

www.mcncompare.com