Java Development Kit (JDK) 16 has reached its second rampdown phase, with the feature set frozen. The new features in JDK 16 range from a second preview of sealed classes to pattern matching to concurrent thread-stack processing for garbage collection. JDK 16 will be the reference implementation of the version of standard Java set to follow JDK 15 , which arrived September 15. An initial rampdown phase was reached last month. A proposed release schedule for JDK 16 calls for release candidates...

Underwater seagrass in coastal areas appear to trap plastic pollution in natural bundles of fiber known as "Neptune balls," researchers have found. The Guardian reports: With no help from humans, the swaying plants -- anchored to shallow seabeds -- may collect nearly 900 million plastic items in the Mediterranean alone every year, a study reported in the journal Scientific Reports said. "We show that plastic debris in the seafloor can be trapped in seagrass remains, eventually leaving the mar...

GPS art or GPX is a combination of both fitness and artistic activity. Your movements, traced by GPS signals, become the paint on a city-sized canvas. You can run, ride or walk your artwork through popular fitness tracking apps such as Strava and the path of your choosing. Tackling the streets and cycleways of Sydney, Guardian Australia find out first hand the physical challenges and creative triumphs of the activity. Continue reading...

In addition to upgraded MacBook Pros, Bloomberg reports that Apple is also "planning the first redesign of its iMac all-in-one desktop computer since 2012," as it shifts away from Intel to its own silicon. From the report: The new models will slim down the thick black borders around the screen and do away with the sizable metal chin area in favor of a design similar to Apple's Pro Display XDR monitor. These iMacs will have a flat back, moving away from the curved rear of the current iMac. App...

One convenient way to list details about user logins on a Linux system is to use the lslogins command. You'll get a very useful and nicely formatted display that includes quite a few important details. On my system and likely most others, user accounts will start with UID 1000. To list just these accounts rather than include all of the service accounts like daemon, mail and syslog, add the -u option as shown in the example below. $ sudo lslogins -u UID USER PROC PWD-LOCK PWD-DENY LAST-LOGIN G...