The Linkielist

Linking ideas with the world

Hacker bans thousands of Call of Duty gamers through anti-cheat software, shows how dangerous this poorly written kernel acces junk is.

Posted on by Robin Edgar

In October, video game giant Activision said it had fixed a bug in its anti-cheat system that affected “a small number of legitimate player accounts,” who were getting banned because of the bug. In reality, according to the hacker who found the bug and was exploiting it, they were able to ban “thousands upon thousands” Read more about Hacker bans thousands of Call of Duty gamers through anti-cheat software, shows how dangerous this poorly written kernel acces junk is.[…]

Singapore to increase road capacity by GPS tracking all vehicles. Because location data is not sensitive and will never be hacked *cough*

Posted on by Robin Edgar

Singapore’s Land Transport Authority (LTA) estimated last week that by tracking all vehicles with GPS it will be able to increase road capacity by 20,000 over the next few years. The densely populated island state is moving from what it calls Electric Road Pricing (ERP) 1.0 to ERP 2.0. The first version used gantries – Read more about Singapore to increase road capacity by GPS tracking all vehicles. Because location data is not sensitive and will never be hacked *cough*[…]

Synology and QNAP hurry out patches for zero-days exploited at Pwn2Own

Posted on by Robin Edgar

S Synology, a Taiwanese network-attached storage (NAS) appliance maker, patched two critical zero-days exploited during last week’s Pwn2Own hacking competition within days. Midnight Blue security researcher Rick de Jager found the critical zero-click vulnerabilities (tracked together as CVE-2024-10443 and dubbed RISK:STATION) in the company’s Synology Photos and BeePhotos for BeeStation software. As Synology explains in security Read more about Synology and QNAP hurry out patches for zero-days exploited at Pwn2Own[…]

Fake job postings proliferate in layoff-hit tech industry

Posted on by Robin Edgar

f you didn’t hear back about that great-looking tech position you applied for, it might not be because there were too many applicants scrambling to find a job amid rolling layoffs. There’s a distinct possibility the posting was fake to begin with. We’re talking here about “ghost jobs” a practice of posting openings for positions Read more about Fake job postings proliferate in layoff-hit tech industry[…]

How The Army Will Use Its Super Integrated Air Defense System

Posted on by Robin Edgar

Developed in partnership with Northrop Grumman, the Integrated Battle Command System, or IBCS, is the beating heart of the U.S. Army’s future air and missile defense architecture. […] This system networks with current and future sensors and weapons platforms – regardless of source, service, or domain – to create an integrated fire control network that Read more about How The Army Will Use Its Super Integrated Air Defense System[…]

Using mathematics to better understand cause and effect

Posted on by Robin Edgar

Consider an example from climate science. Experts studying large atmospheric circulation patterns and their impacts on global weather would like to know how these systems might change with warming climates. Here, many variables come into play: ocean and air temperatures and pressures, ocean currents and depths, and even details of the earth’s rotation over time. Read more about Using mathematics to better understand cause and effect[…]

The Prompt Report: A Systematic Survey of AI Prompting Techniques

Posted on by Robin Edgar

Generative Artificial Intelligence (GenAI) systems are being increasingly deployed across all parts of industry and research settings. Developers and end users interact with these systems through the use of prompting or prompt engineering. While prompting is a widespread and highly researched concept, there exists conflicting terminology and a poor ontological understanding of what constitutes a Read more about The Prompt Report: A Systematic Survey of AI Prompting Techniques[…]

Bezos’ fear of Trump costs Washington Post: cancellations hit 250,000 – 10% of subscribers

Posted on by Robin Edgar

Deterioration of the Washington Post’s subscriber base continued on Tuesday, hours after its proprietor, Jeff Bezos, defended the decision to forgo formally endorsing a presidential candidate as part of an effort to restore trust in the media. The publication has now shed 250,000 subscribers, or 10% of the 2.5 million customers it had before the Read more about Bezos’ fear of Trump costs Washington Post: cancellations hit 250,000 – 10% of subscribers[…]

A Million People Play This Video Wargame. So Do Militaries across the world.

Posted on by Robin Edgar

Warfare is changing at a pace unseen in almost a century, as fighting in Ukraine and the Middle East shows. For military commanders, tackling that upheaval demands fast and constant adaptation. Increasingly, that entails playing games. Wargames—long the realm of top brass and classified plans—let strategists test varying scenarios, using different tactics and equipment. Now they Read more about A Million People Play This Video Wargame. So Do Militaries across the world.[…]

Fitness apps (Strava) still giving away locations of world leaders including Trump, Putin and Macron

Posted on by Robin Edgar

Some of the world’s most prominent leaders’ movements were tracked online through a fitness app used by their bodyguards, an investigation has suggested A report by French newspaper Le Monde said several US Secret Service agents use the Strava fitness app, which has revealed highly confidential movements of US president Joe Biden, presidential rivals Donald Read more about Fitness apps (Strava) still giving away locations of world leaders including Trump, Putin and Macron[…]

How to trick ChatGPT into writing exploit code using hex

Posted on by Robin Edgar

OpenAI’s language model GPT-4o can be tricked into writing exploit code by encoding the malicious instructions in hexadecimal, which allows an attacker to jump the model’s built-in security guardrails and abuse the AI for evil purposes, according to 0Din researcher Marco Figueroa. […] In a recent blog, Figueroa detailed how one such guardrail jailbreak exposed Read more about How to trick ChatGPT into writing exploit code using hex[…]

Washington Post and NYTimes suppressed by fascist Trump Through Billionaire Cowardice

Posted on by Robin Edgar

Newspaper presidential endorsements may not actually matter that much, but billionaire media owners blocking editorial teams from publishing their endorsements out of concern over potential retaliation from a future Donald Trump presidency should matter a lot. If people were legitimately worried about the “weaponization of government” and the idea that companies might silence speech over Read more about Washington Post and NYTimes suppressed by fascist Trump Through Billionaire Cowardice[…]

Researchers unlock a new way to grow quantum dots

Posted on by Robin Edgar

The type of semiconductive nanocrystals known as quantum dots are both expanding the forefront of pure science and also hard at work in practical applications including lasers, quantum QLED televisions and displays, solar cells, medical devices, and other electronics. A new technique for growing these microscopic crystals, published this week in Science, has not only Read more about Researchers unlock a new way to grow quantum dots[…]

Feds Say You Don’t Have a Right to Check Out Retro Video Games Like Library Books. Want you to pirate them apparently.

Posted on by Robin Edgar

Most of the world’s video games from close to 50 years of history are effectively, legally dead. A Video Games History Foundation study found you can’t buy nearly 90% of games from before 2010. Preservationists have been looking for ways to allow people to legally access gaming history, but the U.S. Copyright Office dealt them a heavy blow Read more about Feds Say You Don’t Have a Right to Check Out Retro Video Games Like Library Books. Want you to pirate them apparently.[…]

Largest Commercial Satellites Unfurl, Outshining Most of the Night Sky

Posted on by Robin Edgar

The dawn of annoyingly massive satellites is upon us, shielding our views of the shimmering cosmos. Five of the largest communication satellites just unfolded in Earth orbit, and this is only the beginning of a Texas startup’s constellation of cellphone towers in space. AST SpaceMobile announced today that its first five satellites, BlueBirds 1 to Read more about Largest Commercial Satellites Unfurl, Outshining Most of the Night Sky[…]

Recycled wind turbines may one day become tiny homes and floating solar farms

Posted on by Robin Edgar

Wind turbines are necessary for ensuring society’s sustainable future, but they still have a recycling problem. Decommissioned installations are destined for landfills in many cases, while the steel parts that actually make it to recycling facilities are only broken down after generating large amounts of (often dirty) greenhouse gas emissions. Two Dutch companies, however, recently Read more about Recycled wind turbines may one day become tiny homes and floating solar farms[…]

Anyone Can Learn Echolocation in Just 10 Weeks—And It Remodels Your Brain

Posted on by Robin Edgar

Human echolocation has at times allowed people to ride bikes or play basketball despite being completely blind from a very young age. These echolocators typically perceive their environment by clicking sharply with their tongues and listening to differences in the sounds reflected off objects. Brain-imaging studies reveal that expert echolocators display responses to sound in Read more about Anyone Can Learn Echolocation in Just 10 Weeks—And It Remodels Your Brain[…]

Over 115,000 United Nations Documents Associated to Gender Equality Exposed Online

Posted on by Robin Edgar

[…] The non-password protected, non encrypted/clear text database contained financial reports and audits (including bank account information), staff documents, email addresses, contracts, certifications, registration documents, and much more. In total, the database held 115,141 files in.PDF,.xml,.jpg,,png, or other formats, amounting to 228 GB. Many of the documents I saw were marked as confidential and should Read more about Over 115,000 United Nations Documents Associated to Gender Equality Exposed Online[…]

Juicy Licensing Deals With AI Companies Show That Publishers Don’t Actually Care About Creators

Posted on by Robin Edgar

One of the many interesting aspects of the current enthusiasm for generative AI is the way that it has electrified the formerly rather sleepy world of copyright. Where before publishers thought they had successfully locked down more or less everything digital with copyright, they now find themselves confronted with deep-pocketed companies – both established ones like Google Read more about Juicy Licensing Deals With AI Companies Show That Publishers Don’t Actually Care About Creators[…]

Minecraft is ending all virtual reality support next spring

Posted on by Robin Edgar

[…]Developer Mojang announced last month that March 2025 would be the last update for the game on PlayStation VR. Yesterday’s patch notes for the Bedrock edition of the game use similar language, stating that “Our ability to support VR/MR devices has come to an end, and will no longer be supported in updates after March Read more about Minecraft is ending all virtual reality support next spring[…]

Samsung phones being attacked by flaw. Use the Oct 7 update!

Posted on by Robin Edgar

A nasty bug in Samsung’s mobile chips is being exploited by miscreants as part of an exploit chain to escalate privileges and then remotely execute arbitrary code, according to Google security researchers. The use-after-free vulnerability is tracked as CVE-2024-44068, and it affects Samsung Exynos mobile processors versions 9820, 9825, 980, 990, 850, and W920. It Read more about Samsung phones being attacked by flaw. Use the Oct 7 update![…]

Adobe’s Procreate-like Digital Painting App Is Now Free for Everyone – and offers AI options

Posted on by Robin Edgar

Adobe tools like Photoshop and Illustrator are household names for creative professionals on Mac and PC (though Affinity is trying hard to steal those paying customers). But now, Adobe is gunning for the tablet drawing and painting market by making its Fresco digital painting app completely free. While Photoshop and Illustrator are on iPad, Procreate Read more about Adobe’s Procreate-like Digital Painting App Is Now Free for Everyone – and offers AI options[…]

Google changes Terms Of Service, now spies on your AI prompts

Posted on by Robin Edgar

The new terms come in on November 15th. 4.3 Generative AI Safety and Abuse. Google uses automated safety tools to detect abuse of Generative AI Services. Notwithstanding the “Handling of Prompts and Generated Output” section in the Service Specific Terms, if these tools detect potential abuse or violations of Google’s AUP or Prohibited Use Policy, Read more about Google changes Terms Of Service, now spies on your AI prompts[…]

American Airlines Wins $9.4 Million From ‘Skiplagged’ Site That Exploits Airlines’ Overbooking Business Model

Posted on by Robin Edgar

A Texas federal jury has awarded American Airlines a whopping $9.4 million in a lawsuit filed against Skiplagged.com, a website that helps travelers get cheaper flights by booking flights with a connection and then abandoning the connecting flight to the final destination. The airline industry loathes Skiplagged, even though there’s technically nothing illegal about the Read more about American Airlines Wins $9.4 Million From ‘Skiplagged’ Site That Exploits Airlines’ Overbooking Business Model[…]