Why putting a script in /etc/cron.hourly is not working?

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As you’ve probably seen in the comments to your question, the cronjobs in /etc/cron.hourly (and the other, similar directories) are executed by run-parts. run-parts is a little picky about filenames. By default it doesn’t execute files whose filenames contain anything other than (all of those from ASCII)

  • uppercase letters
  • lowercase letters
  • digits
  • underscores
  • dashes (“minus signs”)

So if your script has a filename of for example “myscript.sh”, it just is ignored, because run-parts does not like the dot.

Source: Why putting a script in /etc/cron.hourly is not working? – Ask Ubuntu

LOL!

Facebook (FB) Paid Contractors to Transcribe User Audio Files

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In follow-up answers for Congress, the company said it “only accesses users’ microphone if the user has given our app permission and if they are actively using a specific feature that requires audio (like voice messaging features.)” The Menlo Park, California-based company doesn’t address what happens to the audio afterward.

Source: Facebook (FB) Paid Contractors to Transcribe User Audio Files – Bloomberg

Facebook first started allowing Messenger users to have their audio transcribed in 2015. “We’re always working on ways to make Messenger more useful,” David Marcus, the executive in charge of the service at the time, said in a Facebook post.

Scientists invented air conditioners for the climate change age

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Their invention looks a lot like a solar panel. A flat metal panel is covered in a sheet of the material—a high-tech film—the trio invented. The material reflects the light and heat of the sun so effectively that the temperature beneath the film can drop 5 to 10-degrees Celsius (9 to 18-degrees Fahrenheit) lower than the air around it. A system of pipes behind the metal panel are exposed to that colder temperature, cooling the fluid inside before it’s sent out to current-day refrigeration systems.

Source: Scientists invented air conditioners for the climate change age — Quartz

Why NASA Should Bake Cookies in Space

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Those hotel chocolate-chip cookies will be the closest astronauts have come to truly baking something in their high-flying kitchens. NASA says astronauts won’t actually eat the cookies, because they are, technically, a science experiment. The treats will be returned home for examination.

Source: Why NASA Should Bake Cookies in Space – The Atlantic

NanoRacks created a cylinder-shaped oven lined with heating components that can bring the interior temperature to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. It bakes one slab of cookie dough, which is held in place inside a sealed tray, at a time. The oven will plug into an apparatus about the size of carry-on luggage that supports scientific experiments with electricity, cooling, and other needs.

RSA in 5 lines of perl

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#!/usr/local/bin/perl -s do 'bigint.pl';

($_,$n)=@ARGV;s/^.(..)*$/0$&/;

($k=unpack('B*',pack('H*',$_)))=~ s/^0*//;

$x=0;$z=$n=~s/./$x=&badd(&bmul($x,16),hex$&)/ge;

while(read(STDIN,$_,$w =((2*$d-1+$z)&~1)/2)){$r=1;$_=substr($_."\0"x$w,$c=0,$w);

s/.|\n/$c=&badd(&bmul ($c,256),ord$&)/ge;$_=$k;s/./$r=&bmod(&bmul($r,$r),$x),$&?$r=&bmod(&bmul($r,$c ),$x):0,""/ge;($r,$t)=&bdiv($r,256),$_=pack(C,$t).$_ while$w--+1-2*$d;print}

Source: RSA in 5 lines of perl

A DIY Internet Network Has Drastically Expanded Its Coverage in NYC

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Initially, the mesh network was powered by a single “Supernode” antenna and hardware array located at 375 Pearl Street in Manhattan. This gigabit fiber-fed antenna connects 300 buildings, where members have mounted routers on a rooftop or near a window. These local “nodes” in turn connect to an internet exchange point—without the need for a traditional ISP.

Source: A DIY Internet Network Has Drastically Expanded Its Coverage in NYC – VICE

Raspberry Pi 4 on sale now from $35

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Raspberry Pi 4 Model B

Here are the highlights:

  • A 1.5GHz quad-core 64-bit ARM Cortex-A72 CPU (~3× performance)
  • 1GB, 2GB, or 4GB of LPDDR4 SDRAM
  • Full-throughput Gigabit Ethernet
  • Dual-band 802.11ac wireless networking
  • Bluetooth 5.0
  • Two USB 3.0 and two USB 2.0 ports
  • Dual monitor support, at resolutions up to 4K
  • VideoCore VI graphics, supporting OpenGL ES 3.x
  • 4Kp60 hardware decode of HEVC video
  • Complete compatibility with earlier Raspberry Pi products

Source: Raspberry Pi 4 on sale now from $35 – Raspberry Pi

Linux PCs, servers, gadgets can be crashed by ‘Ping of Death’ network packets

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With CVE-2019-11477, a string of TCP SACK responses will cause the Linux kernel to unexpectedly hit an internal data structure limit, triggering a fatal panic. The others affecting Linux will force the system to consume resources, thus slowing it down, as Red Hat explained in its technical summary today.

Source: Sad SACK: Linux PCs, servers, gadgets can be crashed by ‘Ping of Death’ network packets • The Register