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WebAssembly runtime maker Wasmer has unveiled py2wasm, a Python-to-WebAssembly compiler that transforms Python programs to the WebAssembly (aka Wasm) binary instruction format.

Using a fork of the Nuitka Python compiler, py2wasm converts Python programs to Wasm, allowing them to run without interpreter overhead. Introduced April 18, py2wasm addresses a situation in which the performance of Python programs in WebAssembly has been less than ideal, Wasmer founder and CEO Syrus Akbary wrote in a blog post. Akbary said that py2wasm gets about 70% of native Python speed, and is about 2.5x to 3x faster than the Python interpreter.

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Generative AI entered the global consciousness with a bang at the close of 2022 (cue: ChatGPT), but making it work in the enterprise has amounted to little more than a series of stumbles. Shadow AI use in the enterprise is sky high as employees are making day-to-day task companions out of AI chat tools. But for the knowledge-intensive workflows that are core to an organization’s mission, generative AI has yet to deliver on its lofty promise to transform the way we work.

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WebAssembly was originally designed to give in-browser web applications a way to run portable, sandboxed, high-performance binaries. As WASM matures beyond the browser, new uses for the technology are emerging. Using WASM to build programmability and extensibility into applications is one use case that is gathering steam.

The Extism software library lets you write programs that can interface with extensions written in WebAssembly. Extism handles the data and function-calling interface between code written in your host application and the WASM extensions. This lets you focus on writing the functionality in your application and extensions, rather than dealing manually with WASM's data types or calling conventions.

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Promises are a central mechanism for handling asynchronous code in JavaScript. You will find them in many JavaScript libraries and frameworks, where they're used to manage the results of an action. The fetch() API is one example of promises at work. As a developer, you might not be familiar with creating and using promises outside of an existing product, but it's surprisingly simple. Learning how to create promises will help you understand how libraries use them. It also puts a powerful asynchronous programming mechanism at your disposal.

In the following example, we're using a Promise to handle the results of a network operation. Instead of making a network call, we just use a timeout:

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COLUMBUS, Ohio (WCMH) -- ADAMH, a mental health service in Franklin County, said post-pandemic, alcohol use disorder affects about 1 in 9 adults in the county.

Data from the National Survey on Drug Use and Health also shows a troubling trend: more adults and young adults are binge drinking in Franklin County than compared with the national average.

However, ADAMH said alcohol use disorder goes beyond statistics. It’s also about spreading awareness and creating a space where people feel comfortable asking for help.

It’s a message one Columbus man is emphasizing as he nears the end of his time at an addiction treatment center.

In January 2023, Ronald Lockhart woke up in a hospital bed.

"There was a doctor next to my bed, flipping through this clipboard and he told me I wasn't going to make it. 'You're going to die.'" Lockhart, currently a Maryhave client, said.

This wasn’t the first time.

"That was the 10th time that had happened to me and I had pretty much just given up," he said. "But this time, I don't know, I could change. I had changed, I didn't want to die."

Lockhart admits he struggles with addiction.

"If I take a drink of liquor, I can't stop drinking," he said. "And I know there's people that can understand that."

Now he’s sharing his story in the hope it can inspire others to get the help they need.

"I made up my mind that I was going to stay clean and sober no matter what, and my sobriety date is actually today of last year," Lockhart said. 

He credits Maryhaven with his progress. Maryhaven, an ADAMH partner, offers addiction counseling, in-patient stays, and much more to help those with substance use disorders live better lives.

"The other problem with alcohol and other substances is that once you start to use them, your body develops that tolerance to it," ADAMH System Chief Clinical Officer Dr. Delaney Smith said. "You get psychological dependence on it as well. So it can be very, very hard to stop."

ADAMH and its partner organizations are working to make sure people feel comfortable asking for help, no matter if they just realized they are struggling or are at rock bottom.

"What we're really wanting to do is open up conversations so people feel comfortable getting help, reaching out to loved ones, maybe starting a conversation with someone that they're concerned about the pattern of their alcohol use," Smith said. 

Data sent by ADAMH shows binge drinking in adults and young adults in cental Ohio is higher than both the national and state average by about three percent. They said not only is the area seeing the increasing problematic use of alcohol but also the negative health consequences that come along with it. These can include liver impairment, withdrawal symptoms and even death.

"I hope if anybody sees this, you can learn from my mistakes because you don't need to go through all that. It's not necessary. You can get the help you need," Lockhart said. "Alcohol is a lot more silent to get addicted to because you don't realize it until it's too late."

If you or a loved one is struggling with alcohol use, ADAMH encourages you to reach out. More information can be found here. 

LOGAN, Ohio (WCMH) -- Facing disbarment and a sexual harassment lawsuit, Hocking County's former prosecutor said alcohol use and mental health disorders contributed to his conduct.

In response to a filing with the Ohio Supreme Court Board of Professional Conduct, former Hocking County Prosecutor Ryan R. Black denied all allegations levied against him by the state disciplinary board.

One of those allegations includes coercing a woman who worked in the office into a sexual relationship, which is the subject of a civil lawsuit filed in February.

The response also denies that Black engaged in a sexual relationship with then-Hocking County Commissioner Jessica Dicken in August 2023, when Dicken, as a commissioner, was a client of Black, who served as the commission's legal counsel.

In addition to denying all the accusations against him, the response, filed Tuesday, also claims alcohol and a mental health issue led to Black's alleged behaviors.

"... at times relevant to the allegations in the Complaint, Respondent [Black] suffered from a mental health disorder and an alcohol use disorder (for which Respondent is seeking ongoing treatment), which contributed to cause any conduct for which Respondent is responsible," the response states.

In addition, Black is accused of trying to intimidate the county's IT director Mark Stout into putting his office's computer system issues above the director's other county responsibilities, threatening to have Stout arrested.

The complaint also accuses Black of "erratic" behavior often consisting of "screaming outbursts" and "refus[ing] to speak to staff members for several days," and of making sexually charged comments to women working in his office.

Black is facing three counts in the misconduct complaint: inappropriate sexual conduct with employees, inappropriate sexual conduct with client, and inappropriate use of public office.

Two judges and a mediator -- none of whom live in Black's district -- were appointed to the panel that will hear his case. A date for that hearing hasn't been scheduled as of Tuesday.

Should the panel find against Black, he faces sanctions up to and including disbarment.

Black, who was on the primary election ballot in March and finished last, resigned in March, with the resignation taking effect on April 19.

Black received his license to practice law in Ohio in November 2018 and was elected Hocking County prosecutor in November 2020.

The complaint as well as Black's response can be read below.

WARNING: GRAPHIC LANGUAGE IN THE DOCUMENTS BELOW. DISCRETION IS ADVISED.

• What do you call "Stuxnet on steroids"??
• Voyager 1 update
• Android 15 to quarantine apps
• Thunderbird & Microsoft Exchange
• China bans Western encrypted messaging apps
• Gentoo says "no" to AI
• Cars collecting diving data
• Freezing your credit
• Investopedia
• Computer Science Abstractions
• Lazy People vs. Secure Systems
• Actalis issues free S/MIME certificates
• PIN Encryption
• DRAM and GhostRace
• AT&T Phishing Scam
• Race Conditions and Multi-core processors
• An Alternative to the Current Credit System
• SpinRite Updates
• Chat (out of) Control

Show Notes - https://www.grc.com/sn/SN-971-Notes.pdf

Hosts: Steve Gibson and Leo Laporte

Download or subscribe to this show at https://twit.tv/shows/security-now.

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For 16kbps versions, transcripts, and notes (including fixes), visit Steve's site: grc.com, also the home of the best disk maintenance and recovery utility ever written Spinrite 6.

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COLUMBUS, Ohio (WCMH) – More than a year after it was declared over, Columbus and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) continue to learn from the central Ohio measles outbreak which spanned from late 2022 to early 2023.

“It certainly was concerning, worrisome, brought with fear for families and patients," Dr. Akua Amponsah, a primary care physician with Nationwide Children's Hospital (NCH), said. 

Thirty-six of the 85 cases led to hospitalizations, according to numbers from Columbus Public Health (CPH); 94% of the cases hadn't received any dose of the MMR vaccine. Amponsah is one of many healthcare professionals hoping to increase vaccine coverage and confidence.

“It really did sort of highlight how important vaccinations are for children's health and how much of a responsibility it is for all of us, particularly in the medical profession, in our settings, to make sure that we are educating our families," she said.

A team from the CDC visited CPH last week to follow up on the outbreak and discuss ways to increase vaccine confidence.

“We’d been working with them remotely for several months now and they really wanted to come to our community to meet us face to face and meet with some of our community partners to see how we’re working collectively together to improve vaccine confidence and reduce vaccine hesitancy," CPH Commissioner Dr. Mysheika Roberts said.

She said CPH works closely with schools, NCH, and other community partners. Roberts said part of the goal is using what was learned last week and over the past year to help other communities. Amponsah, who also met with the CDC, shared a similar message.

“It’s more than just our city," Amponsah said. "Yes we’ve had this recent outbreak and so we certainly want to focus on some of the lessons learned here and hopefully those can be extrapolated to other communities around the country."

DELAWARE, Ohio (WCMH) -- A member of the Ohio National Guard is facing rape charges in Delaware County.

According to online court records, Steven Vicario, 39, of Delaware, was arrested by Delaware police on Friday. He is charged with three counts of rape and one count each of gross sexual imposition and tampering with evidence. Court records show the charges stem from two separate incidents in October and November of 2023.

A grand jury indicted Vicario on April 18.

Vicario is a lieutenant colonel currently serving as the Mobilization, Plans and Readiness Division Chief with the Ohio National Guard, according to his social media account.

Vicario is being held in Delaware County Jail. He is scheduled to appear in Delaware County Common Pleas Court on Wednesday.

COLUMBUS, Ohio (WCMH) – It is lining up to be a busy day at the Statehouse on Wednesday, with both the House and Senate in session, and some high-profile bills will get sent to the governor’s desk. 

House Bill 161 would make spousal rape, sexual battery, unlawful sexual conduct with a minor, gross sexual imposition, and sexual imposition all punishable by law, regardless of the circumstances surrounding the offense. 

“If it had passed in 1970 it would’ve been overdue,” citizen lobbyist Chris Graham said. “This is perhaps the most overdue thing in the Statehouse.” 

As it stands, if force or threat of force was used, then someone can act against their spouse for sexual assault. But if there was any type of intoxication, like alcohol or drugs, that spousal rape case is thrown out. House Bill 161 passed the House back in November. 

If it does pass the Senate on Wednesday, it will then head to the governor’s desk. If he does sign it, it will become 90 days later.   

“There are coming of age moments, and in Ohio, this is one of them,” Graham said. “Removing the spousal exemption and recognizing that men and women are equal and women are not the property of men is a really big deal.” 

The senate is also going to vote on House Bill 250, a bill originally about state diploma seals for military enlistment, that was amended to require the Department of Education and Workforce to also create policies for cellphone use in K-12 schools. 

House Bill 8, known as the “Parents’ Bill of Rights,” is legislation to allow parents to opt their students out of certain lessons in school, passed the House on party-lines back in June. 

On Tuesday, the bill was scheduled to get a Senate committee vote, but that did not ultimately happen. The chair of the committee said they are still working on the legislation. The bill will not be on the senate floor on Wednesday.  If the senate does end up passing HB8, the House would have to agree with changes the Senate made before it goes to the governor’s desk.  

“The purpose of the Parents’ Bill of Rights is for parents to know what's going on in schools. That's really the heart of that bill,” Speaker of the Ohio House Jason Stephens (R-Kitts Hill) said. “I have to see what the changes actually come out from the Senate and then we'll discuss it as a caucus from there.”

“The title sounds nice and innocuous, but the reality is this bill has provisions in it that force the outing of students,” Ohio House Minority Leader Allison Russo (D-Upper Arlington) said. “And I think put students at risk of potential safety of students.” 

A few weeks ago, Stephens said he wants 10 to 12 bills to be voted on every session. Six will be voted on in the House session Wednesday.  

“We have an appointment for a new member, we also will be appointing a new minority whip, plus the recognizing the former Speaker of the House,” Stephens said. “So, we will have several other things beside bills.” 

House Republicans will be filling former Rep. Bob Young’s seat on Wednesday. That seat has been vacant since October. 

Among the bills is also one to add state regulations to where drones can be flown, legislation to increase penalties for drug trafficking, and a bill to create a penalty for the grooming of minors. If those bills do pass the House floor, they will head to the Senate for consideration.

Other high-profile bills like Senate Bill 83, known as the “Higher Education Enhancement Act,” will not be getting a House floor vote. Stephens said it does not have support. 

House Bill 51, or the “Second Amendment Preservation Act,” and House Bill 183, known as the “Bathroom Bill,” will also not be getting house floor votes. 

“We're still talking about that along with several other bills,” Stephens said. 

The Senate session is scheduled for 1:30 p.m. and the House session at 2 p.m. on Wednesday.

COLUMBUS, Ohio (WCMH) – What a journey it's been for Eric and Brenda Nickolas.

Better Call 4 first spoke with the Pataskala couple months after they noticed some unusual activity in their bank account -- nearly $24,000 was withdrawn from their home equity line of credit.

The couple insisted they had nothing to do with that transaction. So, they took the issue to investigators and their bank.

"They're very sympathetic when you're talking to them, but, pretty much the bottom line is they said once money is wired out, they can't do anything about it," Nickolas said.

Meaning the couple was on the hook for that cash.

Seeking a solution, the couple submitted a fraud claim twice and was denied twice because, according to the bank's investigation, the withdrawals were approved from Brenda's personal device.

"We'll both take a polygraph exam if that's what it takes to say, 'We didn't do this,'" Nickolas said.

That's when they called Better Call 4. I called the bank, the FDIC, and the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency. Then, connected the Nickolases with the OCC's Customer Assistance Group. Not long after, Eric sent me a message, which said, in part:

"Thanks to you for providing the information about the FDIC and the Office of the Comptroller, which we contacted. As a result, we have received restitution from them."

Meaning the couple was no longer responsible for repaying the nearly $24,000.

At that time, though, Eric said they were still responsible for the interest, which he estimated to be around $750.

The couple had been working to sort that out. And their perseverance paid off, as Eric sent another message in mid-April, that said the bank agreed to "refund the overpaid interest" on the money.

He added, "We won thanks to you. A check for over $1,400 is in the mail on the way."

After the story aired, several viewers reached out with similar experiences. Every situation is different, but you can reach out to the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency to find out if the Customer Assistance Group can help: Call 1-800-613-6743 or visit https://www.helpwithmybank.gov/