Stupid Calculations
A compendium of practical facts rendered useless. Source: Stupid Calculations
Day: May 18, 2020
Wink smart home users have one week to subscribe or be shut off – yay cloud devices
Many smart home device makers rely on subscriptions to keep a steady stream of money coming in, but Wink is learning how that strategy can easily go wrong. The company has announced plans to move to a $5 per month subscription on May 13th (yes, just one week from now), and it’s mandatory. Decline to Read more about Wink smart home users have one week to subscribe or be shut off – yay cloud devices[…]
Unified Geologic Map of the Moon, 1:5M, 2020
This new work represents a seamless, globally consistent, 1:5,000,000-scale geologic map derived from the six digitally renovated geologic maps (see Source Online Linkage below). The goal of this project was to create a digital resource for science research and analysis, future geologic mapping efforts, be it local-, regional-, or global-scale products, and as a resource Read more about Unified Geologic Map of the Moon, 1:5M, 2020[…]
The Unattributable “db8151dd” Data Breach with 22M people in it turns out to be Covve hack
I was reticent to write this blog post because it leaves a lot of questions unanswered, questions that we should be able to answer. It’s about a data breach with almost 90GB of personal information in it across tens of millions of records – including mine. Here’s what I know: Back in Feb, Dehashed reached Read more about The Unattributable “db8151dd” Data Breach with 22M people in it turns out to be Covve hack[…]
California officials reject subsidies for Musk’s SpaceX over Tesla spat – might have something to do with opening in defiance of Covid orders
A California state panel on Friday rejected a request from Elon Musk’s SpaceX for $655,500 in state job and training funds, citing the chief executive’s recent threats to move Tesla, the electric carmaker that he also runs, out of the state. The snub comes as Musk has sparred with officials in Alameda County over his Read more about California officials reject subsidies for Musk’s SpaceX over Tesla spat – might have something to do with opening in defiance of Covid orders[…]
Social Security numbers, banking information left unprotected on Arkansas Unemployement Assistance website
A computer programmer applying for unemployment on Arkansas’s Pandemic Unemployment Assistance program discovered a vulnerability in the system that exposed the Social Security numbers, bank account and routing numbers and other sensitive information of some 30,000 applicants. Anyone with basic computer knowledge could have accessed personal information for malicious purposes. Alarmed, the computer programmer called Read more about Social Security numbers, banking information left unprotected on Arkansas Unemployement Assistance website[…]
Supercomputers hacked across Europe to mine cryptocurrency
Multiple supercomputers across Europe have been infected this week with cryptocurrency mining malware and have shut down to investigate the intrusions. Security incidents have been reported in the UK, Germany, and Switzerland, while a similar intrusion is rumored to have also happened at a high-performance computing center located in Spain. The first report of an Read more about Supercomputers hacked across Europe to mine cryptocurrency[…]
Copyright Making Sure That MTV Remains An Irrelevant Relic, Rather Than A Cultural Icon
For those of us of a certain age, MTV defined culture. It was where we learned about not just music, but wider pop culture. Of course, MTV lost its cultural place atop the mountaintop with the rise of the internet, but that doesn’t mean that it wasn’t a key source of culture in the 1980s. Read more about Copyright Making Sure That MTV Remains An Irrelevant Relic, Rather Than A Cultural Icon[…]
China’s next-generation crew spacecraft nails its test mission landing
After it launched on Tuesday and nailed a series of maneuvers, China’s future crewed spacecraft has made a successful desert touchdown. Built by China’s main space contractor, the China Aerospace Science and Technology Corp. (CASC), the uncrewed prototype will ferry astronauts to China’s future space station and, eventually, the moon. The crewed capsule (which doesn’t Read more about China’s next-generation crew spacecraft nails its test mission landing[…]
Scientists break the link between a quantum material’s spin and orbital states
In designing electronic devices, scientists look for ways to manipulate and control three basic properties of electrons: their charge; their spin states, which give rise to magnetism; and the shapes of the fuzzy clouds they form around the nuclei of atoms, which are known as orbitals. Until now, electron spins and orbitals were thought to Read more about Scientists break the link between a quantum material’s spin and orbital states[…]