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Winter's Dawn: Celebrating the Solstice

The Winter Solstice, which occurred on December 21st, marks the shortest day and longest night of the year, signaling the official start of winter. Mary Walrath-Holdridge and Julia Gomez from USA TODAY explore the significance of this astronomical event and how it is celebrated across different cultures. The solstice, occurring when the North Pole is tilted furthest away from the sun, brings the least amount of daylight and the longest night. This year, the solstice fell on December 21st at 4:21 a.m. EST, marking the astronomical beginning of winter in the Northern Hemisphere. Historically, the Winter Solstice has been a time of celebration and reflection. Ancient civilizations, such as the Romans with their Saturnalia festival and the Norsemen with their bonfires, honored the return of the sun and the promise of longer days ahead. Today, people continue to observe the solstice with various traditions, including gatherings, feasts, and rituals that pay homage to the natural cycles of l...

Global IT Systems Recover After Major Outage Caused by Faulty Software Update

   

                                          

Businesses and services worldwide are gradually returning to normal after a massive IT outage caused by a faulty software update from cybersecurity firm CrowdStrike. The update, which was not the result of a cyberattack, led to widespread disruptions across various sectors, including airlines, banks, healthcare, and media.

The issue began when a defect in a content update for CrowdStrike’s Falcon Sensor software caused Windows computers to crash, displaying the infamous “blue screen of death.” This malfunction affected numerous organizations globally, grounding flights, disrupting banking services, and causing delays in healthcare and other critical services.

CrowdStrike’s CEO, George Kurtz, apologized for the disruption and assured that a fix had been deployed. However, the recovery process is expected to take some time as businesses work through backlogs and other issues caused by the outage.

The incident has highlighted the vulnerabilities in the world’s interconnected technologies and the need for better contingency plans to prevent such widespread disruptions in the future.


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