Day: July 4, 2019

Are Plants Conscious? Researchers Argue, but agree they are intelligent.

Posted on by Robin Edgar

The remarkable ability of plants to respond to their environment has led some scientists to believe it’s a sign of conscious awareness. A new opinion paper argues against this position, saying plants “neither possess nor require consciousness.” Many of us take it for granted that plants, which lack a brain or central nervous system, wouldn’t Read more about Are Plants Conscious? Researchers Argue, but agree they are intelligent.[…]

UK Gov launches study into Online platforms and digital advertising market and possible monopolies antitrust

Posted on by Robin Edgar

3 July 2019: The CMA has launched a market study into online platforms and the digital advertising market in the UK. We are assessing three broad potential sources of harm to consumers in connection with the market for digital advertising: to what extent online platforms have market power in user-facing markets, and what impact this Read more about UK Gov launches study into Online platforms and digital advertising market and possible monopolies antitrust[…]

Amazon Confirms It Keeps Alexa Transcripts You Can’t Delete

Posted on by Robin Edgar

Next time you use Amazon Alexa to message a friend or order a pizza, know that the record could be stored indefinitely, even if you ask to delete it. In May, Delaware Senator Chris Coons sent Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos a letter asking why Amazon keeps transcripts of voices captured by Echo devices, citing privacy Read more about Amazon Confirms It Keeps Alexa Transcripts You Can’t Delete[…]

Facebook, Instragram, Whatsapp, Oculus, Google Cloud go down and Cloudflare reroutes large portions of the internet to nothing – twice

Posted on by Robin Edgar

Facebook resolves day-long outages across Instagram, WhatsApp, and Messenger Facebook had problems loading images, videos, and other data across its apps today, leaving some people unable to load photos in the Facebook News Feed, view stories on Instagram, or send messages in WhatsApp. Facebook said earlier today it was aware of the issues and was Read more about Facebook, Instragram, Whatsapp, Oculus, Google Cloud go down and Cloudflare reroutes large portions of the internet to nothing – twice[…]

The Secret To The World’s Lightest Gaming Mouse Model O Is Lots Of Holes

Posted on by Robin Edgar

In order to create what it calls “the world’s lightest gaming mouse,” the engineers at peripheral maker Glorious PC Gaming Race took a mouse and put holes all in it. The result is the Model O, a very good gaming mouse that weighs only 67 grams and may trigger trypophobia. “You’ll barely feel the holes,” Read more about The Secret To The World’s Lightest Gaming Mouse Model O Is Lots Of Holes[…]

YouTube mystery ban on hacking videos has content creators puzzled, looks like they want you to not learn about cybersecurity

Posted on by Robin Edgar

YouTube, under fire since inception for building a business on other people’s copyrights and in recent years for its vacillating policies on irredeemable content, recently decided it no longer wants to host instructional hacking videos. The written policy first appears in the Internet Wayback Machine’s archive of web history in an April 5, 2019 snapshot. Read more about YouTube mystery ban on hacking videos has content creators puzzled, looks like they want you to not learn about cybersecurity[…]

Spotify shuts down direct music uploading for independent artists, forces them to 3rd parties and also allows these 3rd parties into your personal account

Posted on by Robin Edgar

Spotify has changed the way artists can upload music, now prohibiting individual musicians from putting their songs on the streaming service directly. The new move requires a third party to be involved in the business of uploads. The company announced the change on Monday, saying it will close the beta program and stop accepting direct Read more about Spotify shuts down direct music uploading for independent artists, forces them to 3rd parties and also allows these 3rd parties into your personal account[…]

Dutch ING Bank wants to use customer payment data for direct marketing, privacy watchdog says NO! whilst Dutch Gov wants more banking data sharing with everyone!

Posted on by Robin Edgar

The authority on personal data has reprimanded the ING Bank over plans to use payment data for advertising. The authority has told other banks to examine their policies for direct marketing. ING Bank recently changed their privacy statement, stating that the bank will use payment data for direct marketing offers. As an example they said Read more about Dutch ING Bank wants to use customer payment data for direct marketing, privacy watchdog says NO! whilst Dutch Gov wants more banking data sharing with everyone![…]

Zipato Zipamicro smart home hub totally pwned

Posted on by Robin Edgar

In new research published Tuesday and shared with TechCrunch, Dardaman and Wheeler found three security flaws which, when chained together, could be abused to open a front door with a smart lock. Smart home technology has come under increasing scrutiny in the past year. Although convenient to some, security experts have long warned that adding Read more about Zipato Zipamicro smart home hub totally pwned[…]

Silicon Valley’s Hottest Email App Superhuman sends emails that track you and your location without your knowledge

Posted on by Robin Edgar

Superhuman is one of the most talked about new apps in Silicon Valley. Why? The product — a $30 per month email app for power users hoping for greater productivity— is a good alternative to many popular and stale email apps, nearly everyone who has used it says so. Even better is the company’s publicity Read more about Silicon Valley’s Hottest Email App Superhuman sends emails that track you and your location without your knowledge[…]