The Linkielist

Linking ideas with the world

Internet Archive Ends Free Ebook Program Early due to money grubbing copyright enforcers suing them for being a library

Posted on by Robin Edgar

Back in March, the Internet Archive launched its National Emergency Library, a program that made roughly 1.4 million books available to the public without the usual waitlists. But on Wednesday, the organization announced it was ending the program two weeks early after four major publishers decided to sue Internet Archive for copyright infringement. Internet Archive Read more about Internet Archive Ends Free Ebook Program Early due to money grubbing copyright enforcers suing them for being a library[…]

Spies Can Eavesdrop by Watching a Light Bulb’s Vibrations

Posted on by Robin Edgar

The list of sophisticated eavesdropping techniques has grown steadily over years: wiretaps, hacked phones, bugs in the wall—even bouncing lasers off of a building’s glass to pick up conversations inside. Now add another tool for audio spies: Any light bulb in a room that might be visible from a window. Researchers from Israeli’s Ben-Gurion University Read more about Spies Can Eavesdrop by Watching a Light Bulb’s Vibrations[…]

Someone got so fed up with GE fridge DRM – yes, fridge DRM – they made a whole website on how to bypass it

Posted on by Robin Edgar

Fed up with the DRM in a General Electric refrigerator that pushed the owner to buy expensive manufacturer-approved replacement water filters, an anonymous hacker went to the trouble of buying a domain name and setting up a website at gefiltergate.com to pen a screed about appliance digital rights restriction management (DRM) and how to bypass Read more about Someone got so fed up with GE fridge DRM – yes, fridge DRM – they made a whole website on how to bypass it[…]

Trump Administration Eliminates Transgender Health Protections

Posted on by Robin Edgar

In an utterly heartless move, the Trump administration on Friday eliminated health care protections for transgender people during an ongoing global pandemic that has claimed more lives in the U.S. than in any other country. It did this by finalizing a rule under Section 1557 of the Affordable Care Act (ACA), which prohibits health programs Read more about Trump Administration Eliminates Transgender Health Protections[…]

Keepnet fires legal threats at bloggers for exposing their 876GB unsecured database with years of leaked credentials, backfires

Posted on by Robin Edgar

UK-based infosec outfit Keepnet Labs left an 867GB database of previously compromised website login details accessible to world+dog earlier this year – then sent lawyers’ letters to bloggers in a bid to erase their reports of its blunder. A contractor left the Keepnet Elasticsearch database unsecured back in March after disabling a firewall, exposing around Read more about Keepnet fires legal threats at bloggers for exposing their 876GB unsecured database with years of leaked credentials, backfires[…]

Planet’s SkySats zoom in for a closer look at the Earth, get 50cm per pixel granularity

Posted on by Robin Edgar

The remote-sensing firm Planet operates more than one hundred satellites that constantly orbit the earth, collecting imagery of the world’s entire landmass each day. Now, to offer more clarity to its customers, it has flown a handful of its satellites 50 km closer to the Earth. This literal zoom-in effort will allow the firm to Read more about Planet’s SkySats zoom in for a closer look at the Earth, get 50cm per pixel granularity[…]

Obscure Indian cyber firm spied on politicians, investors worldwide

Posted on by Robin Edgar

New Delhi-based BellTroX InfoTech Services targeted government officials in Europe, gambling tycoons in the Bahamas, and well-known investors in the United States including private equity giant KKR and short seller Muddy Waters, according to three former employees, outside researchers, and a trail of online evidence. Aspects of BellTroX’s hacking spree aimed at American targets are Read more about Obscure Indian cyber firm spied on politicians, investors worldwide[…]

Hospital-busting hacker crew may be behind ransomware attack that made Honda halt car factories, say researchers

Posted on by Robin Edgar

Japanese car maker Honda has been hit by ransomware that disrupted its production of vehicles and also affected internal communications, according to reports. The ransomware, of an as-yet unidentified strain, appeared to have spread through the multinational firm’s network. A Honda spokesman told the media it appeared to have “hit the company’s internal servers.” Some Read more about Hospital-busting hacker crew may be behind ransomware attack that made Honda halt car factories, say researchers[…]

WhatsApp was exposing users’ phone numbers in Google search

Posted on by Robin Edgar

WhatsApp claims it fixed an issue that was showing users’ phone numbers in Google search results, TechCrunch reports. The change comes after security researcher Athul Jayaram revealed that phone numbers of WhatsApp users who used the Click to Chat feature were being indexed in search. Click to Chat allows users to create a link with Read more about WhatsApp was exposing users’ phone numbers in Google search[…]

From off-prem to just off: IBM Cloud goes down planet-wide so hard even the status page didn’t work – and outside of US business hours

Posted on by Robin Edgar

IBM’s cloud has gone down hard across the world. We’d love to tell you just how hard the service has hit the dirt, but even the Big Blue status page is intermittently unavailable: IBM Cloud status page … Click to enlarge Your humble hack has an IBM Cloud account, and when attempting to login in Read more about From off-prem to just off: IBM Cloud goes down planet-wide so hard even the status page didn’t work – and outside of US business hours[…]

Dutch Justice minister wants to put webhosters that won’t do what he wants on a shaminglist, unburdened by proof and using kiddie porn as an excuse

Posted on by Robin Edgar

The stance seems to be: If minister Grapperhaus tells a webhost to remove content, they should do it without the court system intervening. As soon as they invoke kiddie porn you know that something totalitarian is being justified. Because once that is allowed, then they expand the powers to all content. And noboday can be Read more about Dutch Justice minister wants to put webhosters that won’t do what he wants on a shaminglist, unburdened by proof and using kiddie porn as an excuse[…]

Space Force Losing Trademark Battle With Netflix’s Space Force

Posted on by Robin Edgar

The real Space Force may be going down in flames against the fictional Space Force: According to the Hollywood Reporter, the newly founded military branch appears to be losing a trademark battle with the Netflix comedy show of the same name. Netflix “has outmaneuvered the U.S. government to secure trademark rights to ‘Space Force’ in Read more about Space Force Losing Trademark Battle With Netflix’s Space Force[…]

deepart.io turns your picture into versions of existing art pictures

Posted on by Robin Edgar

Artificial intelligence turning your photos into art It uses the stylistic elements of one image to draw the content of another. Get your own artwork in just three steps. Upload photo The first picture defines the scene you would like to have painted. Choose style Choose among predefined styles or upload your own style image. Read more about deepart.io turns your picture into versions of existing art pictures[…]

Bug bounty platforms buy researcher silence, violate labor laws, critics say

Posted on by Robin Edgar

Used properly, bug bounty platforms connect security researchers with organizations wanting extra scrutiny. In exchange for reporting a security flaw, the researcher receives payment (a bounty) as a thank you for doing the right thing. However, CSO’s investigation shows that the bug bounty platforms have turned bug reporting and disclosure on its head, what multiple Read more about Bug bounty platforms buy researcher silence, violate labor laws, critics say[…]

Smart fridges are cool, but after a few short years you could be stuck with a big frosty brick in the kitchen

Posted on by Robin Edgar

A report from consumer advocates Which? highlights the shockingly short lifespan of “smart” appliances, with some losing software support after just a few years, despite costing vastly more than “dumb” alternatives. That lifespan varies between manufacturers: Most vendors were vague, with Beko offering “up to 10 years” and LG saying patches would be issued as Read more about Smart fridges are cool, but after a few short years you could be stuck with a big frosty brick in the kitchen[…]

Secure the software development lifecycle with machine learning

Posted on by Robin Edgar

At Microsoft, 47,000 developers generate nearly 30 thousand bugs a month. These items get stored across over 100 AzureDevOps and GitHub repositories. To better label and prioritize bugs at that scale, we couldn’t just apply more people to the problem. However, large volumes of semi-curated data are perfect for machine learning. Since 2001 Microsoft has Read more about Secure the software development lifecycle with machine learning[…]

Belg opent lijnvlucht met private jets naar Ibiza

Posted on by Robin Edgar

Voor 495 euro in een private jet naar Ibiza vliegen, met 25 kilogram bagage, luxesnacks en een glaasje champagne. Dat wil de Limburgse luchtvaartondernemer Philippe Bodson vanaf 4 juli onder de naam Flying Executive in de markt zetten. Op wekelijkse basis vanuit Brussel. Een lijnvlucht voor private jets is geen primeur in Europa. Maar de Read more about Belg opent lijnvlucht met private jets naar Ibiza[…]

Guides for Visualizing Reality – and checking on the charts

Posted on by Robin Edgar

We like to complain about how data is messy, not in the right format, and how parts don’t make sense. Reality is complicated though. Data comes from the realities. Here are several guides to help with visualizing these realities, which seem especially important these days. Visualizing the Uncertainty in Data For when you don’t know Read more about Guides for Visualizing Reality – and checking on the charts[…]

Astronomers have found a planet like Earth orbiting a star like the sun

Posted on by Robin Edgar

Three thousand light-years from Earth sits Kepler 160, a sun-like star that’s already thought to have three planets in its system. Now researchers think they’ve found a fourth. Planet KOI-456.04, as it’s called, appears similar to Earth in size and orbit, raising new hopes we’ve found perhaps the best candidate yet for a habitable exoplanet Read more about Astronomers have found a planet like Earth orbiting a star like the sun[…]

Brave Browser Mistake Adds Its Referrer Code For Cryptocurrency Sites – quite a big oops also for privacy

Posted on by Robin Edgar

The following report appeared on Yahoo! Finance: Privacy-focused browser Brave was found to autocomplete several websites and keywords in its address bar with an affiliate code. Shortly after a user published his findings, Brave CEO and co-founder Brendan Eich addressed the incident and called it “a mistake we’re correcting.” Eich said that while Brave is Read more about Brave Browser Mistake Adds Its Referrer Code For Cryptocurrency Sites – quite a big oops also for privacy[…]

Boffins step into the Li-ion’s den with sodium-ion battery that’s potentially as good as a lithium cousin

Posted on by Robin Edgar

scientists in America and China have created a sodium-ion-based battery that can potentially perform at close to the levels of Li-ion, paving the way for a cheaper, commercially viable alternative to lithium. The key challenge in creating this battery is that sodium-ion cells tend to break down faster than their lithium-ion cousins. Sodium crystals collect Read more about Boffins step into the Li-ion’s den with sodium-ion battery that’s potentially as good as a lithium cousin[…]

Lenovo certifies all desktop and mobile workstations for Linux – and will even upstream driver updates

Posted on by Robin Edgar

Lenovo has decided to certify all of its workstations for Linux. “Our entire portfolio of ThinkStation and ThinkPad P Series workstations will now be certified via both Red Hat Enterprise Linux and Ubuntu LTS – a long-term, enterprise-stability variant of the popular Ubuntu Linux distribution,” said a Tuesday statement from GM and executive director of Read more about Lenovo certifies all desktop and mobile workstations for Linux – and will even upstream driver updates[…]

Zoom won’t encrypt free calls because it wants to comply with law enforcement

Posted on by Robin Edgar

If you’re a free Zoom user, and waiting for the company to roll out end-to-end encryption for better protection of your calls, you’re out of luck. Free calls won’t be encrypted, and law enforcement will be able to access your information in case of ‘misuse’ of the platform. Zoom CEO Eric Yuan today said that the Read more about Zoom won’t encrypt free calls because it wants to comply with law enforcement[…]

GSMA suggests mobile carriers bake contact-tracing into their own apps – if governments ask for it

Posted on by Robin Edgar

The GSM Association, the body that represents mobile carriers and influences the development of standards, has suggested its members bake virus contact-tracing functionality into their own bundled software. The body today popped out a paper [PDF] on contact-tracing apps. After some unremarkable observations about the need for and operations of such apps, plus an explanation Read more about GSMA suggests mobile carriers bake contact-tracing into their own apps – if governments ask for it[…]