“On Thursday, the tech-focused Nasdaq Composite fell 2.47% for its worst day since September. The other averages saw more modest losses. The Dow fell 0.08%, while the S&P 500 lost 0.87%,” writes of CNBC. “The moves reversed a rally in Wednesday’s session that followed the Federal Reserve’s announcement of a more aggressive plan to wind down its asset purchases, and that it is looking at hiking rates multiple times in 2022.”
Security Experts Struggling to Assess Long-Term Impact of Log4Shell Vulnerability
A flaw in a widely used open-source library is sending shock waves through the technology community.
“A vulnerability in the open source Apache logging library Log4j sent system administrators and security professionals scrambling over the weekend. Known as Log4Shell, the flaw is exposing some of the world’s most popular applications and services to attack, and the outlook hasn’t improved since the vulnerability came to light on Thursday. If anything, it’s now excruciatingly clear that Log4Shell will continue to wreak havoc across the internet for years to come,” writes Lily Hay Newman in WIRED. “Major tech players, including Amazon Web Services, Microsoft, Cisco, Google Cloud, and IBM have all found that at least some of their services were vulnerable and have been rushing to issue fixes and advise customers about how best to proceed.”
This is a situation we need to stay aware of, since it has the potential to affect software applications all over the world.
Apple Delays Return to Offices Indefinitely
Apple will indefinitely delay the return of its workers to offices, and plans to give corporate and retail employees $1,000 to purchase equipment enabling them to work from home.
“The Silicon Valley giant’s move comes amid a rise in Covid-19 cases and concerns about the spread of the Omicron variant. Earlier this week, Apple reinstated a mask mandate at all of its US stores and is reportedly also closing some of them because of a surge in cases,” writes Rishi Iyengar of CNN Business. “Several companies including Google, Lyft, Uber and Amazon have also pushed back their reopening dates multiple times as uncertainty around the pandemic continues.”
Remembering the Engineer Who Developed the First Nintendo Console
In the mid-1980s, the video game industry entered a downward spiral. Then an imaginative engineer named Masayuki Uemura developed the Nintendo Entertainment System. Uemura died last week at the age of 78. He will be remembered as a pioneer whose innovative spirit essentially rescued an industry on the brink of extinction.
“… the release of the Nintendo Entertainment System in the United States changed the industry forever. The unassuming gray box with its distinctive controllers became a must-have for an entire generation of children and prompted Nintendo’s virtual monopoly over the industry for the better part of a decade as competitors pulled out of the market in response to the company’s dominance,” write Ben Dooley and Hisako Ueno in The New York Times.
I recommend reading Uemura’s obituary. It is truly inspirational, and it reminds us of how the power of invention can change the world.
