Alias Privacy “Parasite” 2.0 Adds a Layer of Security to Your Home Assistant

Alias is a teachable “parasite” that gives you more control over your smart assistant’s customization and privacy. Through a simple app, you can train Alias to react to a self-chosen wake-word; once trained, Alias takes control over your home assistant by activating it for you. When you’re not using it, Alias makes sure the assistant Read more about Alias Privacy “Parasite” 2.0 Adds a Layer of Security to Your Home Assistant[…]

Top Streamers Are Leaving Twitch Amidst Big Money And Shady Deals

Let’s say you’re an up-and-coming streamer. You’ve done it for a while and you make decent money, although you’re no Tyler “Ninja” Blevins. But you’re on your way there, or so you hope. A while back, you got the opportunity to sign with an agency that promised to help you set up deals to advertise Read more about Top Streamers Are Leaving Twitch Amidst Big Money And Shady Deals[…]

NSF’s newest solar telescope produces first images, most detailed images of the sun

This first images from NSF’s Inouye Solar Telescope show a close-up view of the sun’s surface, which can provide important detail for scientists. The image shows a pattern of turbulent “boiling” plasma that covers the entire sun. The cell-like structures—each about the size of Texas—are the signature of violent motions that transport heat from the Read more about NSF’s newest solar telescope produces first images, most detailed images of the sun[…]

Don’t use online DNA tests! If You Ever Used Promethease, Your DNA Data Might Be on MyHeritage – and so will your family’s

When it comes to ways to learn about your DNA, Promethease’s service seemed like one of the safest. They promised anonymity, and to delete your report after 45 days. But now that MyHeritage has bought the company, users are being notified that their DNA data is now on MyHeritage. Wait, what? It turns out that Read more about Don’t use online DNA tests! If You Ever Used Promethease, Your DNA Data Might Be on MyHeritage – and so will your family’s[…]

UN didn’t patch SharePoint, got mega-hacked, covered it up, kept most staff in the dark, finally forced to admit it, accident waiting to happen

The United Nations’ European headquarters in Geneva and Vienna were hacked last summer, putting thousands of staff records at miscreants’ fingertips. Incredibly, the organization decided to cover it up without informing those affected nor the public. […] A senior IT official dubbed the attack a “major meltdown,” in which personnel records – as well as Read more about UN didn’t patch SharePoint, got mega-hacked, covered it up, kept most staff in the dark, finally forced to admit it, accident waiting to happen[…]

Lab-Grown Heart Muscles Have Been Transplanted Into a Human For The First Time

On Monday, researchers from Japan’s Osaka University announced the successful completion of a first-of-its-kind heart transplant. Rather than replacing their patient’s entire heart with a new organ, these researchers placed degradable sheets containing heart muscle cells onto the heart’s damaged areas – and if the procedure has the desired effect, it could eventually eliminate the Read more about Lab-Grown Heart Muscles Have Been Transplanted Into a Human For The First Time[…]

Swarm Drones Demonstrate Tactics to Conduct Urban Raid

In its third field experiment, DARPA’s OFFensive Swarm-Enabled Tactics (OFFSET) program deployed swarms of autonomous air and ground vehicles to demonstrate a raid in an urban area. The OFFSET program envisions swarms of up to 250 collaborative autonomous systems providing critical insights to small ground units in urban areas where limited sight lines and tight Read more about Swarm Drones Demonstrate Tactics to Conduct Urban Raid[…]

In ‘Sophisticated’ Incident, Dozens of U.N. Servers Hacked including their active directory server

An internal confidential document from the United Nations, leaked to The New Humanitarian and seen by The Associated Press, says that dozens of servers were “compromised” at offices in Geneva and Vienna. Those include the U.N. human rights office, which has often been a lightning rod of criticism from autocratic governments for its calling-out of Read more about In ‘Sophisticated’ Incident, Dozens of U.N. Servers Hacked including their active directory server[…]

Social media scrapers Clearview Lied About Its Crime-Solving Power In Pitches To Law Enforcement Agencies

A very questionable facial recognition tool being offered to law enforcement was recently exposed by Kashmir Hill for the New York Times. Clearview — created by a developer previously best known for an app that let people put Trump’s “hair” on their own photos — is being pitched to law enforcement agencies as a better Read more about Social media scrapers Clearview Lied About Its Crime-Solving Power In Pitches To Law Enforcement Agencies[…]

MIDI 2.0 overhauls the music interface for the first time in 35 years

About 35 years after the MIDI 1.0 Detailed Specification was established, instrument manufacturers voted unanimously on January 18th to adopt the new MIDI 2.0 spec. So what’s changing for audio interfaces? The “biggest advance in music technology in decades” brings two-way communication, among many other new features while remaining backwards compatible with the old spec. Read more about MIDI 2.0 overhauls the music interface for the first time in 35 years[…]

Mozilla moves to monetize Thunderbird, transfers project to new subsidiary

The Mozilla Foundation announced today that it was moving the Thunderbird email client to a new subsidiary named the MZLA Technologies Corporation. Mozilla said that Thunderbird will continue to remain free and open source, but by moving the project away from its foundation into a corporate entity they will be able to monetize the product Read more about Mozilla moves to monetize Thunderbird, transfers project to new subsidiary[…]

Google to translate and transcribe conversations in real time

Google on Tuesday unveiled a feature that’ll let people use their phones to both transcribe and translate a conversation in real time into a language that isn’t being spoken. The tool will be available for the Google Translate app in the coming months, said Bryan Lin, an engineer on the Translate team. Right now the Read more about Google to translate and transcribe conversations in real time[…]

Clearview AI Told Cops To “Run Wild” With Its Creepy Face database, access given away without checks and sold to private firms despite claiming otherwise

Clearview AI, the facial recognition company that claims to have amassed a database of more than 3 billion photos scraped from Facebook, YouTube, and millions of other websites, is scrambling to deal with calls for bans from advocacy groups and legal threats. These troubles come after news reports exposed its questionable data practices and misleading Read more about Clearview AI Told Cops To “Run Wild” With Its Creepy Face database, access given away without checks and sold to private firms despite claiming otherwise[…]

Brave, Google, Microsoft, Mozilla gather together to talk web privacy… and why we all shouldn’t get too much of it. Only FF and Brave will give you some.

At the USENIX Enigma conference on Tuesday, representatives of four browser makers, Brave, Google, Microsoft, and Mozilla, gathered to banter about their respective approaches to online privacy, while urging people not to ask for too much of it. Apple, which has advanced browser privacy standards but was recently informed that its tracking defenses can be Read more about Brave, Google, Microsoft, Mozilla gather together to talk web privacy… and why we all shouldn’t get too much of it. Only FF and Brave will give you some.[…]

Ubiquiti says UniFi routers will beam performance data back to mothership without consent automatically, no opt-out.

Ubiquiti Networks is once again under fire for suddenly rewriting its telemetry policy after changing how its UniFi routers collect data without telling anyone. The changes were identified in a new help document published on the US manufacturer’s website. The document differentiates between “personal data”, which includes everything that identifies a specific individual, and “other Read more about Ubiquiti says UniFi routers will beam performance data back to mothership without consent automatically, no opt-out.[…]

New NZXT Liquid CPU Cooler Plays Animated GIFs, Because Awesome!

PC hardware maker NZXT has just announced the latest additions to its line of liquid CPU coolers, the Kraken X-3 and Z-3. The X-3 has a bright LED ring and rotates so the logo can be repositioned. The Z-3 comes with a 2.36-inch, 24-bit color LCD screen capable of displaying images, computer data, or animated Read more about New NZXT Liquid CPU Cooler Plays Animated GIFs, Because Awesome![…]

Facebook Enables Confusing ‘Off-Facebook Activity’ Privacy Tool, which won’t stop any tracking whatsoever

In a blog post earlier today, the famously privacy-conscious Mark Zuckerberg announced that—in honor of Data Privacy Day, which is apparently a thing—the official rollout of a long-awaited Off-Facebook Activity tool that allows Facebook users to monitor and manage the connections between Facebook profiles and their off-platform activity. “To help shed more light on these Read more about Facebook Enables Confusing ‘Off-Facebook Activity’ Privacy Tool, which won’t stop any tracking whatsoever[…]

Leaked AVAST Documents Expose the Secretive Market for Your Web Browsing Data: Google, MS, Pepsi, they all buy it – Really, uninstall it now!

An antivirus program used by hundreds of millions of people around the world is selling highly sensitive web browsing data to many of the world’s biggest companies, a joint investigation by Motherboard and PCMag has found. Our report relies on leaked user data, contracts, and other company documents that show the sale of this data Read more about Leaked AVAST Documents Expose the Secretive Market for Your Web Browsing Data: Google, MS, Pepsi, they all buy it – Really, uninstall it now![…]

Ring Doorbell App Gives Away your data to 3rd parties, without your knowledge or consent

An investigation by EFF of the Ring doorbell app for Android found it to be packed with third-party trackers sending out a plethora of customers’ personally identifiable information (PII). Four main analytics and marketing companies were discovered to be receiving information such as the names, private IP addresses, mobile network carriers, persistent identifiers, and sensor Read more about Ring Doorbell App Gives Away your data to 3rd parties, without your knowledge or consent[…]

Electric Vehicle Battery Degradation Graph with 6 years data

These guys have 6 years of battery data on a range of electric cars. Each model is different in terms of degradation, but it seems that over six years time you lose around 12% of your battery capacity. This means that if your car was able to drive, say 523 km (Tesla Model X), after Read more about Electric Vehicle Battery Degradation Graph with 6 years data[…]

Class-action lawsuit filed against creepy Clearview AI startup which scraped everyones social media profiles

A lawsuit — seeking class-action status — was filed this week in Illinois against Clearview AI, a New York-based startup that has scraped social media networks for people’s photos and created one of the biggest facial recognition databases in the world. The secretive startup was exposed last week in an explosive New York Times report Read more about Class-action lawsuit filed against creepy Clearview AI startup which scraped everyones social media profiles[…]

London Police Will Start Using Live Facial Recognition Tech Now, Big Brother becomes a computer watching you

The dystopian nightmare begins. Today, London’s Metropolitan Police Service announced it will begin deploying Live Facial Recognition (LFR) tech across the capital in the hopes of locating and arresting wanted peoples. […] The way the system is supposed to work, according to the Metropolitan Police, is the LFR cameras will first be installed in areas Read more about London Police Will Start Using Live Facial Recognition Tech Now, Big Brother becomes a computer watching you[…]

GE Fridges Won’t Dispense Ice Or Water Unless Your Water Filter ‘Authenticates’ Via RFID Chip on their rip off expensive water filter

Count GE in on the “screw your customers” bandwagon. Twitter user @ShaneMorris tweeted: “My fridge has an RFID chip in the water filter, which means the generic water filter I ordered for $19 doesn’t work. My fridge will literally not dispense ice, or water. I have to pay General Electric $55 for a water filter Read more about GE Fridges Won’t Dispense Ice Or Water Unless Your Water Filter ‘Authenticates’ Via RFID Chip on their rip off expensive water filter[…]

Sonos CEO apologizes for confusion, says legacy products will work ‘as long as possible’ – however long that is

Sonos CEO Patrick Spence just published a statement on the company’s website to try to clear up an announcement made earlier this week: on Tuesday, Sonos announced that it will cease delivering software updates and new features to its oldest products in May. The company said those devices should continue functioning properly in the near Read more about Sonos CEO apologizes for confusion, says legacy products will work ‘as long as possible’ – however long that is[…]