Author: Robin Edgar

Organisational Structures | Technology and Science | Military, IT and Lifestyle consultancy | Social, Broadcast & Cross Media | Flying aircraft

Palo Alto Networks threatens to sue security startup for comparison review, says it breaks software EULA. 1 EULA? 2 WTF?

Posted on by Robin Edgar

Palo Alto Networks has threatened a startup with legal action after the smaller biz published a comparison review of one of its products. Israel-based Orca Security received a cease-and-desist letter from a lawyer representing Palo Alto after Orca uploaded a series of online videos reviewing of one of Palo Alto’s products and compared it to Read more about Palo Alto Networks threatens to sue security startup for comparison review, says it breaks software EULA. 1 EULA? 2 WTF?[…]

Twitch Suddenly Mass-Deletes Thousands of Videos, Citing Music Copyright Claims – yes, copyright really doesn’t provide for  innovation at all

Posted on by Robin Edgar

“It’s finally happening: Twitch is taking action against copyrighted music — long a norm among streamers — in response to music industry pressure,” reports Kotaku. But the Verge reports “there’s some funny stuff going on here.” First, Twitch is telling streamers that some of their content has been identified as violating copyright and that instead Read more about Twitch Suddenly Mass-Deletes Thousands of Videos, Citing Music Copyright Claims – yes, copyright really doesn’t provide for  innovation at all[…]

Samsung, Stanford make a 10,000PPI display that could lead to ‘flawless’ VR

Posted on by Robin Edgar

Ask VR fans about their gripes and they’ll likely mention the “screen door” effect, or the gaps between pixels that you notice when looking at a display so close to your eyes. That annoyance might disappear entirely if Samsung and Stanford University have their way. They’ve developed (via IEEE Spectrum) OLED technology that supports resolutions Read more about Samsung, Stanford make a 10,000PPI display that could lead to ‘flawless’ VR[…]

About 3% of Starlink satellites have failed so far – that’s 360 potential collisions now and 1,260 once SL is up

Posted on by Robin Edgar

To date, the company has launched over 800 satellites and (as of this summer) is producing them at a rate of about 120 a month. There are even plans to have a constellation of 42,000 satellites in orbit before the decade is out. However, there have been some problems along the way, as well. Aside Read more about About 3% of Starlink satellites have failed so far – that’s 360 potential collisions now and 1,260 once SL is up[…]

Oculus owners forced on Facebook accounts, will have purchases be wiped, device bricked, if they ever leave FB. Who would have guessed?

Posted on by Robin Edgar

Oculus users, already fuming at Facebook chaining their VR headsets to their Facebook accounts, have been warned they could lose all their Oculus purchases and account information in future if they ever delete their profile on the social network. The rule is a further binding of the gaming company that Facebook bought in 2014 to Read more about Oculus owners forced on Facebook accounts, will have purchases be wiped, device bricked, if they ever leave FB. Who would have guessed?[…]

The Department of Justice sues Google over antitrust concerns | Engadget

Posted on by Robin Edgar

We all knew it was coming. Today, the US government’s Department of Justice filed an antitrust lawsuit against Google. The company, which is a part of Alphabet, is accused of having an unfair monopoly over search and search-related advertising. In addition, the department disagrees with the terms around Android, the most widely-used mobile operating system, Read more about The Department of Justice sues Google over antitrust concerns | Engadget[…]

eBay makes a dedicated portal for officially refurbished gear

Posted on by Robin Edgar

eBay is taking on Amazon Warehouse with a new destination called Certified Refurbished, selling used goods from brands like Lenovo, Microsoft and Makita. The idea is that you can buy second-hand products at significant discounts over new, but still get a two-year warranty (from Allstate), a money-back guarantee and 30-day “hassle-free” returns, along with new Read more about eBay makes a dedicated portal for officially refurbished gear[…]

Climate change and flying: what share of global CO2 emissions come from aviation?

Posted on by Robin Edgar

Flying is a highly controversial topic in climate debates. There are a few reasons for this. The first is the disconnect between its role in our personal and collective carbon emissions. Air travel dominates frequent travellers’ individual contributions to climate change. Yet aviation overall accounts for only 2.5% of global carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions. This Read more about Climate change and flying: what share of global CO2 emissions come from aviation?[…]

When you tell Chrome to wipe private data about you, it spares two websites from the purge: Google.com, YouTube

Posted on by Robin Edgar

Google exempts its own websites from Chrome’s automatic data-scrubbing feature, allowing the ads giant to potentially track you even when you’ve told it not to. Programmer Jeff Johnson noticed the unusual behavior, and this month documented the issue with screenshots. In his assessment of the situation, he noted that if you set up Chrome, on Read more about When you tell Chrome to wipe private data about you, it spares two websites from the purge: Google.com, YouTube[…]

Announcing: Graph-Native Machine Learning in Neo4j!

Posted on by Robin Edgar

We’re delighted to announce you can now take advantage of graph-native machine learning (ML) inside of Neo4j! We’ve just released a preview of Neo4j’s Graph Data Science™ Library version 1.4, which includes graph embeddings and an ML model catalog. Together, these enable you to create representations of your graph and make graph predictions – all Read more about Announcing: Graph-Native Machine Learning in Neo4j![…]

Amazon’s Stops Pretending and launches anticompetitive New Panel Program

Posted on by Robin Edgar

After spending years promising Congress that the data it collected from third-party sellers wasn’t used to beef up its private-label products, today Amazon decided to roll out a product meant to do exactly that. The Amazon Shopper Panel, as it’s called, promises to pay Amazon customers that offer intel to the ecommerce giant about where Read more about Amazon’s Stops Pretending and launches anticompetitive New Panel Program[…]

Thought the FBI were the only ones able to unlock encrypted phones? Pretty much every US cop can get the job done – and does

Posted on by Robin Edgar

Never mind the Feds. American police forces routinely “circumvent most security features” in smartphones to extract mountains of personal information, according to a report that details the massive, ubiquitous cracking of devices by cops. Two years of public records requests by Upturn, a Washington DC non-profit, has revealed that every one of the United States’ Read more about Thought the FBI were the only ones able to unlock encrypted phones? Pretty much every US cop can get the job done – and does[…]

Do algorithms make us even more radical? Filter bubbles and echo chambers

Posted on by Robin Edgar

‘Technology ensures that we’re all served our own personalised news cycle. As a result, we only get to hear the opinions that correspond to our own. The result is polarisation’. Or so the oft-heard theory goes. But in practice, it seems this isn’t really true, or at least not for the average Dutch person. However, Read more about Do algorithms make us even more radical? Filter bubbles and echo chambers[…]

Trying to change the Dutch home copy tax

Posted on by Robin Edgar

The representatives of producers and importers of consumer electronics (NLdigital, NLconnect, TechniekNederland, FIAR CE and STOBI) have asked Minister Dekker to take a closer look at the current home copying system. The trade associations believe that the protection of copyright through this regulation is increasingly out of step with the technical and economic reality. NLdigital Read more about Trying to change the Dutch home copy tax[…]

FreedomFi – open source 5G MAGMA software on a hardware gateway

Posted on by Robin Edgar

FreedomFi Gateway is the easiest path towards your open source Private LTE or 5G network. Be it for Fixed Wireless Access, Enterprise Cellular or Mobile Broadband, just plug in any commodity small cell into a FreedomFi Gateway and start managing your private cellular network via a SaaS-hosted portal. Project sponsorship options start at $300.   Read more about FreedomFi – open source 5G MAGMA software on a hardware gateway[…]

UK test and trace data can be handed to police, reveals memorandum – that mission crept quickly

Posted on by Robin Edgar

As if things were not going badly enough for the UK’s COVID-19 test and trace service, it now seems police will be able to access some test data, prompting fear that the disclosure could deter people who should have tests from coming forward. As revealed in the Health Service Journal (paywalled), Department for Health and Read more about UK test and trace data can be handed to police, reveals memorandum – that mission crept quickly[…]

‘Classified knots’: Researchers create optical framed knots to encode information

Posted on by Robin Edgar

In a world first, researchers from the University of Ottawa in collaboration with Israeli scientists have been able to create optical framed knots in the laboratory that could potentially be applied in modern technologies. Their work opens the door to new methods of distributing secret cryptographic keys—used to encrypt and decrypt data, ensure secure communication Read more about ‘Classified knots’: Researchers create optical framed knots to encode information[…]

Google’s breast cancer-predicting AI research is useless without transparency, critics say

Posted on by Robin Edgar

Back in January, Google Health, the branch of Google focused on health-related research, clinical tools, and partnerships for health care services, released an AI model trained on over 90,000 mammogram X-rays that the company said achieved better results than human radiologists. Google claimed that the algorithm could recognize more false negatives — the kind of Read more about Google’s breast cancer-predicting AI research is useless without transparency, critics say[…]

Dickey’s Barbecue Pit Hackers May Have 3M Stolen Credit Cards

Posted on by Robin Edgar

Hackers are currently selling a trove of 3 million credit card numbers and customer records apparently stolen from Dickey’s Barbecue Pit, one of the biggest barbecue chains in the United States. The company made a statement today about the hack, suggesting that charges made to the stolen cards will be reversed. […] Security firm Gemini Read more about Dickey’s Barbecue Pit Hackers May Have 3M Stolen Credit Cards[…]

British Airways fined £20m over data breach

Posted on by Robin Edgar

British Airways has been fined £20m ($26m) by the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) for a data breach which affected more than 400,000 customers. The breach took place in 2018 and affected both personal and credit card data. The fine is considerably smaller than the £183m that the ICO originally said it intended to issue back Read more about British Airways fined £20m over data breach[…]

Judge Rules Trump Must Say Himself If His Tweets Are True or Bullshit. It can be one or the other.

Posted on by Robin Edgar

On Friday, a federal judge decided that he’s had enough of reading the tea leaves when it comes to exactly what the fuck Trump is talking about. The president’s tweets have become more central to his tenure in office than ever before as he’s been recovering from covid-19 infection and lashing out in every direction Read more about Judge Rules Trump Must Say Himself If His Tweets Are True or Bullshit. It can be one or the other.[…]

Facebook Login Issues Are Locking Oculus Quest 2 Owners Out of Their Devices, turning them into paperweights

Posted on by Robin Edgar

Owners of the brand-new Oculus Quest 2—the first VR headset which requires a Facebook account to use—are finding themselves screwed out of their new purchases by Facebook’s account verification system. As first reported by UploadVR this week, some Oculus 2 owners are finding that Facebook’s reportedly AI-powered account verification system is demanding some users upload Read more about Facebook Login Issues Are Locking Oculus Quest 2 Owners Out of Their Devices, turning them into paperweights[…]