The Linkielist

Linking ideas with the world

Local water availability is permanently reduced after planting forests

Posted on by Robin Edgar

River flow is reduced in areas where forests have been planted and does not recover over time, a new study has shown. Rivers in some regions can completely disappear within a decade. This highlights the need to consider the impact on regional water availability, as well as the wider climate benefit, of tree-planting plans. “Reforestation Read more about Local water availability is permanently reduced after planting forests[…]

Ultrafast camera takes 1 trillion frames per second of transparent objects and phenomena, can photograph light pulses

Posted on by Robin Edgar

A little over a year ago, Caltech’s Lihong Wang developed the world’s fastest camera, a device capable of taking 10 trillion pictures per second. It is so fast that it can even capture light traveling in slow motion. But sometimes just being quick is not enough. Indeed, not even the fastest camera can take pictures Read more about Ultrafast camera takes 1 trillion frames per second of transparent objects and phenomena, can photograph light pulses[…]

HP Remotely Disables a Customer’s Printer Until He Joins Company’s Monthly Subscription Service

Posted on by Robin Edgar

A Twitter user’s complaint last week in which he produces photo evidence of HP warning him that his ink cartridges would be disabled until he starts paying for HP Instant Ink monthly subscription service has gone viral on the social media. Ryan Sullivan, the user who made the complaint, said he only discovered the warning Read more about HP Remotely Disables a Customer’s Printer Until He Joins Company’s Monthly Subscription Service[…]

Opera reportedly has multiple predatory loan apps in the Play Store with interest rates of up to 876%

Posted on by Robin Edgar

It’s no secret that Opera isn’t doing so well in the era of Chrome dominance. According to a report published by Hindenburg Research, the company’s losses in browser revenue have apparently led it to create multiple loan apps with short payment windows and interest rates of ~365-876%, which are in violation of new Play Store Read more about Opera reportedly has multiple predatory loan apps in the Play Store with interest rates of up to 876%[…]

BlackVue dashcam shows anyone everywhere you are in real time and where you have been in the past

Posted on by Robin Edgar

An app that is supposed to be a fun activity for dashcam users to broadcast their camera feeds and drives is actually allowing people to scrape and store the real-time location of drivers across the world. BlackVue is a dashcam company with its own social network. With a small, internet-connected dashcam installed inside their vehicle, Read more about BlackVue dashcam shows anyone everywhere you are in real time and where you have been in the past[…]

PopSockets CEO calls out Amazon’s ‘bullying with a smile’ tactics, shows how monopolies are bad for competition

Posted on by Robin Edgar

Amazon has a “bullying” problem. So insisted PopSockets CEO and inventor David Barnett today while describing his company’s relationship with the e-commerce and logistics giant. Barnett was addressing members of the House Subcommittee on Antitrust, Commercial, and Administrative Law and, over the course of the hearing, laid out how the Jeff Bezos-helmed corporate behemoth had Read more about PopSockets CEO calls out Amazon’s ‘bullying with a smile’ tactics, shows how monopolies are bad for competition[…]

PGP keys, software security, and much more threatened by new SHA1 exploit

Posted on by Robin Edgar

Three years ago, Ars declared the SHA1 cryptographic hash algorithm officially dead after researchers performed the world’s first known instance of a fatal exploit known as a “collision” on it. On Tuesday, the dead SHA1 horse got clobbered again as a different team of researchers unveiled a new attack that’s significantly more powerful. The new Read more about PGP keys, software security, and much more threatened by new SHA1 exploit[…]

More than 600 million users installed Android ‘fleeceware’ apps from the Play Store – where they don’t cancel your trial after uninstalling

Posted on by Robin Edgar

Security researchers from Sophos say they’ve discovered a new set of “fleeceware” apps that appear to have been downloaded and installed by more than 600 million Android users. The term fleeceware is a recent addition to the cyber-security jargon. It was coined by UK cyber-security firm Sophos last September following an investigation that discovered a Read more about More than 600 million users installed Android ‘fleeceware’ apps from the Play Store – where they don’t cancel your trial after uninstalling[…]

Mozilla (Firefox) lays off 70 as it waits for new products to generate revenue

Posted on by Robin Edgar

In an internal memo, Mozilla chairwoman and interim CEO Mitchell Baker specifically mentions the slow rollout of the organization’s new revenue-generating products as the reason for why it needed to take this action. The overall number may still be higher, though, as Mozilla is still looking into how this decision will affect workers in the Read more about Mozilla (Firefox) lays off 70 as it waits for new products to generate revenue[…]

Apple’s latest AI acquisition leaves some Wyze cameras without people detection

Posted on by Robin Edgar

Earlier today, Apple confirmed it purchased Seattle-based AI company Xnor.ai (via MacRumors). Acquisitions at Apple’s scale happen frequently, though rarely do they impact everyday people on the day of their announcement. This one is different. Cameras from fellow Seattle-based company Wyze, including the Wyze Cam V2 and Wyze Cam Pan, have utilized Xnor.ai’s on-device people Read more about Apple’s latest AI acquisition leaves some Wyze cameras without people detection[…]

A floating device created to clean up plastic from the ocean is finally doing its job, organizers say

Posted on by Robin Edgar

A huge trash-collecting system designed to clean up plastic floating in the Pacific Ocean is finally picking up plastic, its inventor announced Wednesday. The Netherlands-based nonprofit the Ocean Cleanup says its latest prototype was able to capture and hold debris ranging in size from huge, abandoned fishing gear, known as “ghost nets,” to tiny microplastics Read more about A floating device created to clean up plastic from the ocean is finally doing its job, organizers say[…]

Skype and Cortana audio listened in on by workers in China with ‘no security measures’

Posted on by Robin Edgar

A Microsoft programme to transcribe and vet audio from Skype and Cortana, its voice assistant, ran for years with “no security measures”, according to a former contractor who says he reviewed thousands of potentially sensitive recordings on his personal laptop from his home in Beijing over the two years he worked for the company. The Read more about Skype and Cortana audio listened in on by workers in China with ‘no security measures’[…]

Spectrum Kills Home Security Business, Refuses Refunds for Owners of Now-Worthless Equipment, shows you why cloud based hardware isn’t the best idea

Posted on by Robin Edgar

Spectrum customers who are also users of the company’s home security service are about a month away from being left with a pile of useless equipment that in many cases cost them hundreds of dollars. On February 5, Spectrum will no longer support customers who’ve purchased its Spectrum Home Security equipment. None of the devices—the Read more about Spectrum Kills Home Security Business, Refuses Refunds for Owners of Now-Worthless Equipment, shows you why cloud based hardware isn’t the best idea[…]

Hackers Are Breaking Directly Into Telecom Companies using RDP to Take Over Customer Phone Numbers themselves

Posted on by Robin Edgar

Hackers are now getting telecom employees to run software that lets the hackers directly reach into the internal systems of U.S. telecom companies to take over customer cell phone numbers, Motherboard has learned. Multiple sources in and familiar with the SIM swapping community as well as screenshots shared with Motherboard suggest at least AT&T, T-Mobile, Read more about Hackers Are Breaking Directly Into Telecom Companies using RDP to Take Over Customer Phone Numbers themselves[…]

Checkpeople, why is a 22GB database containing 56 million US folks’ aggregated personal details sitting on the open internet using a Chinese IP address?

Posted on by Robin Edgar

A database containing the personal details of 56.25m US residents – from names and home addresses to phone numbers and ages – has been found on the public internet, served from a computer with a Chinese IP address, bizarrely enough. The information silo appears to belong to Florida-based CheckPeople.com, which is a typical people-finder website: Read more about Checkpeople, why is a 22GB database containing 56 million US folks’ aggregated personal details sitting on the open internet using a Chinese IP address?[…]

FBI Surveillance Vendor Threatens to Sue Tech Reporters for Heinous Crime of Reporting on tombstones, tree stumps and vacuum cleaners they sell with spy cams in them

Posted on by Robin Edgar

Motherboard on Thursday revealed that a “secretive” U.S. government vendor whose surveillance products are not publicly advertised has been marketing hidden cameras disguised as seemingly ordinary objects—vacuum cleaners, tree stumps, and tombstones—to the Federal Bureau of Investigation, among other law enforcement agencies, and the military, in addition to, ahem, “select clients.” Yes, that’s tombstone cams, Read more about FBI Surveillance Vendor Threatens to Sue Tech Reporters for Heinous Crime of Reporting on tombstones, tree stumps and vacuum cleaners they sell with spy cams in them[…]

Lawsuit against cinema for refusing cash – and thus slurping private data

Posted on by Robin Edgar

Michiel Jonker from Arnhem has sued a cinema that has moved location and since then refuses to accept cash at the cash register. All payments have to be made by pin. Jonker feels that this forces visitors to allow the cinema to process personal data. He tried something of the sort in 2018 which was Read more about Lawsuit against cinema for refusing cash – and thus slurping private data[…]

A Closer Look Into Neon and Its Artificial Humans

Posted on by Robin Edgar

In short, a Neon is an artificial intelligence in the vein of Halo’s Cortana or Red Dwarf’s Holly, a computer-generated life form that can think and learn on its own, control its own virtual body, has a unique personality, and retains its own set of memories, or at least that’s the goal. A Neon doesn’t Read more about A Closer Look Into Neon and Its Artificial Humans[…]

Amazon fired four workers who secretly snooped on Ring doorbell camera footage

Posted on by Robin Edgar

Amazon’s Ring home security camera biz says it has fired multiple employees caught covertly watching video feeds from customer devices. The admission came in a letter [PDF] sent in response to questions raised by US Senators critical of Ring’s privacy practices. Ring recounted how, on four separate occasions, workers were let go for overstepping their Read more about Amazon fired four workers who secretly snooped on Ring doorbell camera footage[…]

Delta and Misapplied Sciences introduce parallel reality – a display that shows different content to different people at the same time without augmentation

Posted on by Robin Edgar

In a ritual I’ve undertaken at least a thousand times, I lift my head to consult an airport display and determine which gate my plane will depart from. Normally, that involves skimming through a sprawling list of flights to places I’m not going. This time, however, all I see is information meant just for me: Read more about Delta and Misapplied Sciences introduce parallel reality – a display that shows different content to different people at the same time without augmentation[…]

A Bed That Cools and Heats Each Sleeper Separately, sets the softness per side and also adjusts automatically to silence snorers

Posted on by Robin Edgar

Sleep Number first made a name for itself with its line of adjustable air-filled mattresses that allowed a pair of sleepers to each select how firm or soft they wanted their side of the bed to be. The preferred setting was known as a user’s Sleep Number, and over the years the company has introduced Read more about A Bed That Cools and Heats Each Sleeper Separately, sets the softness per side and also adjusts automatically to silence snorers[…]

DHS Plan to Collect DNA From Migrant Detainees Will Begin Soon – because centralised databases with personally sensitive data in them are a great idea. Just ask the Jews how useful they were during WWII

Posted on by Robin Edgar

The Trump administration’s plan to collect DNA evidence from migrants detained in U.S. Customs and Borders Protection (CBP) and Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) facilities will commence soon in the form of a 90-day pilot program in Detroit and Southwest Texas, CNN reported on Monday. News of the plan first emerged in October, when the Read more about DHS Plan to Collect DNA From Migrant Detainees Will Begin Soon – because centralised databases with personally sensitive data in them are a great idea. Just ask the Jews how useful they were during WWII[…]

During Brain Surgery, This AI Can Diagnose a Tumor in 2 Minutes

Posted on by Robin Edgar

Expert human pathologists typically require around 30 minutes to diagnose brain tumors from tissue samples extracted during surgery. A new artificially intelligent system can do it in less than 150 seconds—and it does so more accurately than its human counterparts. New research published today in Nature Medicine describes a novel diagnostic technique that leverages the Read more about During Brain Surgery, This AI Can Diagnose a Tumor in 2 Minutes[…]

New evidence shows that the key assumption made in the discovery of dark energy is in error

Posted on by Robin Edgar

The most direct and strongest evidence for the accelerating universe with dark energy is provided by the distance measurements using type Ia supernovae (SN Ia) for the galaxies at high redshift. This result is based on the assumption that the corrected luminosity of SN Ia through the empirical standardization would not evolve with redshift. New Read more about New evidence shows that the key assumption made in the discovery of dark energy is in error[…]