Month: December 2021

Scott Morrison urged to end ‘lunacy’ and push UK and US for Julian Assange’s release by Australian PMs

Posted on by Robin Edgar

Australian parliamentarians have demanded the prime minister, Scott Morrison, intervene in the case of Julian Assange, an Australian citizen, after the United States won a crucial appeal in its fight to extradite the WikiLeaks founder on espionage charges. “The prime minister must get Assange home,” the Australian Greens leader, Adam Bandt, told Guardian Australia on Read more about Scott Morrison urged to end ‘lunacy’ and push UK and US for Julian Assange’s release by Australian PMs[…]

‘Cowboy Bebop’ Canceled by Netflix After One Season

Posted on by Robin Edgar

That was fast: Netflix has canceled its ambitious, widely hyped and, ultimately, widely disappointing anime adaptation Cowboy Bebop, The Hollywood Reporter has learned. The move comes less than three weeks after the show’s Nov. 19 debut on the streaming service. The space Western had a rough reception. The 10-episode series garnered only a 46 percent Read more about ‘Cowboy Bebop’ Canceled by Netflix After One Season[…]

FAA: No more commercial astronaut wings, too many launching. You still get to be on a list.

Posted on by Robin Edgar

Heads up, future space travelers: No more commercial astronaut wings will be awarded from the Federal Aviation Administration after this year. The FAA said Friday it’s clipping its astronaut wings because too many people are now launching into space and it’s getting out of the astronaut designation business entirely. The news comes one day ahead Read more about FAA: No more commercial astronaut wings, too many launching. You still get to be on a list.[…]

The European Commission is making its software open source to benefit society – considering it was paid for by the tax payers it’s the least they could do and should have done this years ago

Posted on by Robin Edgar

The European Commission has announced that it’s adopting new rules around open source software which will see it release software under open source licenses. The decision follows a Commission study that found investment in open source software leads on average to four times higher returns. There has also been a push for this type of Read more about The European Commission is making its software open source to benefit society – considering it was paid for by the tax payers it’s the least they could do and should have done this years ago[…]

Julian Assange can be extradited to the US, court rules, changes mind because US tells judge to.

Posted on by Robin Edgar

Wikileaks founder Julian Assange can be extradited from the UK to the US, the High Court has ruled. The US won its appeal against a January UK court ruling that he could not be extradited due to concerns over his mental health. Judges were reassured by US promises to reduce the risk of suicide. His Read more about Julian Assange can be extradited to the US, court rules, changes mind because US tells judge to.[…]

Ventoy – add an iso to usb drive and boot it (or any other iso on it) up without any configuration

Posted on by Robin Edgar

Ventoy is an open source tool to create bootable USB drive for ISO/WIM/IMG/VHD(x)/EFI files. With ventoy, you don’t need to format the disk over and over, you just need to copy the ISO/WIM/IMG/VHD(x)/EFI files to the USB drive and boot them directly. You can copy many files at a time and ventoy will give you Read more about Ventoy – add an iso to usb drive and boot it (or any other iso on it) up without any configuration[…]

FAA says lack of federal whistleblower protections is ‘enormous factor’ hindering Blue Origin safety review

Posted on by Robin Edgar

Jeff Bezos’ rocket company, Blue Origin, became the subject of a federal review this fall after a group of 21 current and former employees co-signed an essay that raised serious questions about the safety of the company’s rockets — including the rocket making headlines for flying Bezos and other celebrities to space. But that review Read more about FAA says lack of federal whistleblower protections is ‘enormous factor’ hindering Blue Origin safety review[…]

Log4Shell: RCE 0-day exploit found in log4j2, a popular Java logging package, hugely popular

Posted on by Robin Edgar

A few hours ago, a 0-day exploit in the popular Java logging library log4j2 was discovered that results in Remote Code Execution (RCE) by logging a certain string. Given how ubiquitous this library is, the impact of the exploit (full server control), and how easy it is to exploit, the impact of this vulnerability is Read more about Log4Shell: RCE 0-day exploit found in log4j2, a popular Java logging package, hugely popular[…]

MCH2022 Submit a talk above and beyond the final frontier!

Posted on by Robin Edgar

In the first part of this series of posts where we explore possible subjects that may trigger your “Aha! I know about this and can talk about this!” reflex, medical technology was suggested as an avenue of interest. In this second part, we would like to tickle your memories from not so very long ago Read more about MCH2022 Submit a talk above and beyond the final frontier![…]

Italian regulator fines Amazon $1.28 billion for abusing its market dominance

Posted on by Robin Edgar

Italy’s antitrust authority (AGCM) has fined Amazon €1.13 billion ($1.28 billion) for “abuse of dominant position,” the second penalty it has imposed on Amazon over the last month. Amazon holds a position of “absolute dominance” in the Italian brokerage services market, “which has allowed it to promote its own logistics service, called Fulfillment by Amazon Read more about Italian regulator fines Amazon $1.28 billion for abusing its market dominance[…]

Report: VPNs Are Often a Mixed Bag for Privacy

Posted on by Robin Edgar

[…] Consumer Reports, which recently published a 48-page white paper on VPNs that looks into the privacy and security policies of 16 prominent VPN providers. Researchers initially looked into some 51 different companies but ultimately honed in on the most prominent, high-quality providers. The results are decidedly mixed, with the report highlighting a lot of Read more about Report: VPNs Are Often a Mixed Bag for Privacy[…]

Physicists discover special transverse sound wave

Posted on by Robin Edgar

A research team at City University of Hong Kong (CityU) has discovered a new type of sound wave: The airborne sound wave vibrates transversely and carries both spin and orbital angular momentum like light does. The findings shattered scientists’ previous beliefs about the sound wave, opening an avenue to the development of novel applications in Read more about Physicists discover special transverse sound wave[…]

Prisons snoop on inmates’ phone calls with speech-to-text AI

Posted on by Robin Edgar

Prisons around the US are installing AI speech-to-text models to automatically transcribe conversations with inmates during their phone calls. A series of contracts and emails from eight different states revealed how Verus, an AI application developed by LEO Technologies and based on a speech-to-text system offered by Amazon, was used to eavesdrop on prisoners’ phone Read more about Prisons snoop on inmates’ phone calls with speech-to-text AI[…]

Spotify Pulls Content of Comedians Fighting to Get Royalties

Posted on by Robin Edgar

[…] Spotify took down the work of hundreds of comedians, including big names like John Mulaney, Jim Gaffigan, and Kevin Hart, the Wall Street Journal reported on Saturday. Mulaney, Gaffigan, Hart, and other comedians are represented by Spoken Giants, a global rights company that’s leading the fight to get radio and digital platforms, such as Read more about Spotify Pulls Content of Comedians Fighting to Get Royalties[…]

Cuba ransomware gang scores almost $44m from 49 victims: FBI

Posted on by Robin Edgar

The US Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) says 49 organisations, including some in government, were hit by Cuba ransomware as of early November this year. The attacks were spread across five “critical infrastructure”, which, besides government, included the financial, healthcare, manufacturing, and – as you’d expect – IT sectors. The Feds said late last week Read more about Cuba ransomware gang scores almost $44m from 49 victims: FBI[…]

Executive at Swiss Tech Company Said to Operate Secret Surveillance Operation

Posted on by Robin Edgar

The co-founder of a company that has been trusted by technology giants including Google and Twitter to deliver sensitive passwords to millions of their customers also operated a service that ultimately helped governments secretly surveil and track mobile phones, Bloomberg reported Monday, citing former employees and clients. From the report: Since it started in 2013, Read more about Executive at Swiss Tech Company Said to Operate Secret Surveillance Operation[…]

$150m – $200m of digital assets stolen in BitMart security breach

Posted on by Robin Edgar

Cryptocurrency exchange BitMart has coughed to a large-scale security breach relating to ETH and BSC hot wallets. The company reckons that hackers made off with approximately $150m in assets. Security and analytics outfit PeckShield put the figure at closer to $200m. “We have identified a large-scale security breach related to one of our ETH hot Read more about $150m – $200m of digital assets stolen in BitMart security breach[…]

The SEC is probing Tesla’s faulty solar panels prone to fire, whistleblower says they kept evidence of danger under wraps

Posted on by Robin Edgar

The Securities and Exchange Commission has launched an investigation into whether Tesla failed to tell investors and customers about the fire risks of its faulty solar panels. Whistleblower and ex-employee, Steven Henkes, accused the company of flouting safety issues in a complaint with the SEC in 2019. He filed a freedom of information request to Read more about The SEC is probing Tesla’s faulty solar panels prone to fire, whistleblower says they kept evidence of danger under wraps[…]

Suspected Russian Activity Targeting Government and Business Entities Around the Globe after Solarwinds

Posted on by Robin Edgar

Mandiant continues to track multiple clusters of suspected Russian intrusion activity that have targeted business and government entities around the globe. Based on our assessment of these activities, we have identified two distinct clusters of activity, UNC3004 and UNC2652. We associate both groups with UNC2452 also referred to as Nobelium by Microsoft. Some of the Read more about Suspected Russian Activity Targeting Government and Business Entities Around the Globe after Solarwinds[…]

Life360 Reportedly Sells Location Data of Families and Kids

Posted on by Robin Edgar

Life360, a popular tracking app that bills itself as “the world’s leading family safety service,” is purportedly selling location data on the 31 million families and kids that use it to data brokers. The chilling revelation may make users of the Tile Bluetooth tracker, which is being bought by Life360, think twice before continuing to Read more about Life360 Reportedly Sells Location Data of Families and Kids[…]

AWS Outage Takes Down Amazon, Disney+, Venmo, loads of online games

Posted on by Robin Edgar

Amazon Web Services (AWS), the engine that powers many of the internet’s most-trafficked websites and apps, appears to be experiencing a widespread outage that is bringing down several popular services. Amazon, Disney+, and Venmo are all being affected by the outage, and are showing error messages when users attempt to visit their websites. Amazon appears Read more about AWS Outage Takes Down Amazon, Disney+, Venmo, loads of online games[…]

DARPA Funded Researchers Accidentally Create The World’s First Warp Bubble

Posted on by Robin Edgar

Warp drive pioneer and former NASA warp drive specialist Dr. Harold G “Sonny” White has reported the successful manifestation of an actual, real-world “Warp Bubble.” And, according to White, this first of its kind breakthrough by his Limitless Space Institute (LSI) team sets a new starting point for those trying to manufacture a full-sized, warp-capable Read more about DARPA Funded Researchers Accidentally Create The World’s First Warp Bubble[…]

Huge 20-Year Study Shows Trickle-Down Is a Myth, Inequality Rampant

Posted on by Robin Edgar

The 2022 World Inequality Report, a huge undertaking coordinated by economic and inequality experts Lucas Chancel, Thomas Piketty, Emmanuel Saez, and Gabriel Zucman, was the product of four years of research and produced an unprecedented data set on just how wealth is distributed. “The world is marked by a very high level of income inequality Read more about Huge 20-Year Study Shows Trickle-Down Is a Myth, Inequality Rampant[…]

LINE Pay leaks around 133,000 users’ data to GitHub

Posted on by Robin Edgar

Smartphone payment provider LINE Pay announced yesterday that around 133,000 users’ payment details were mistakenly published on GitHub between September and November of this year. Files detailing participants in a LINE Pay promotional program staged between late December 2020 and April 2021 were accidentally uploaded to the collaborative coding crèche by a research group employee. Read more about LINE Pay leaks around 133,000 users’ data to GitHub[…]

The UAE Just Became The Biggest Export Customer For Dassault’s Rafale Fighter

Posted on by Robin Edgar

[…] A contract for the sale of the 80 Rafales was agreed today between Eric Trappier, Chairman and CEO of Dassault, and Tareq Abdul Raheem Al Hosani, CEO of Tawazun Economic Council, which is responsible for security and defense acquisitions on behalf of the United Arab Emirates (UAE). Dassault describes the deal as “the largest Read more about The UAE Just Became The Biggest Export Customer For Dassault’s Rafale Fighter[…]