The Linkielist

Linking ideas with the world

Google Sidewalk Labs document reveals company’s early vision for big brother city in city with private tax powers, criminal justice and huge personal data slurp based on a social credit system

Posted on by Robin Edgar

A confidential Sidewalk Labs document from 2016 lays out the founding vision of the Google-affiliated development company, which included having the power to levy its own property taxes, track and predict people’s movements and control some public services. The document, which The Globe and Mail has seen, also describes how people living in a Sidewalk Read more about Google Sidewalk Labs document reveals company’s early vision for big brother city in city with private tax powers, criminal justice and huge personal data slurp based on a social credit system[…]

xHelper Android Malware Can Survive a Factory Reset

Posted on by Robin Edgar

Though this somewhat-new “xHelper” malware has affected a low number of Android users so far (around 45,000, estimates Symantec), the fact that nobody has any clear advice on how to remove it is a worrisome fact. While the odds are good that you won’t get hit with this malware, given its low installation rate so Read more about xHelper Android Malware Can Survive a Factory Reset[…]

New Battery Design Can Charge an Electric Car in 10 Minutes

Posted on by Robin Edgar

A new lithium-ion battery design makes it possible for electric vehicle drivers to charge their cars and hit the road in as little as ten minutes, according to a new study. The quick charge gives drivers up to 200 miles per ten minute charge while maintaining 2,500 charging cycles, the researchers behind the study say. Read more about New Battery Design Can Charge an Electric Car in 10 Minutes[…]

‘Nearly All’ Counter-Strike Microtransactions Are Being Used for Money Laundering

Posted on by Robin Edgar

Counter-Strike: Global Offensive players will no longer be able to trade container keys between accounts because the trade was part of a massive worldwide fraud network. Players earned cases in Counter-Strike containing weapons and cosmetic upgrades, but had to purchase the keys to open the boxes. Developer Valve runs an internal marketplace on Steam where Read more about ‘Nearly All’ Counter-Strike Microtransactions Are Being Used for Money Laundering[…]

Facebook ends appeal against ICO Cambridge Analytica micro-fine: Doesn’t admit liability, gives away £500k

Posted on by Robin Edgar

Facebook has ended its appeal against the UK Information Commissioner’s Office and will pay the outstanding £500,000 fine for breaches of data protection law relating to the Cambridge Analytica scandal. Prior to today’s announcement, the social network had been appealing against the fine, alleging bias and requesting access to ICO documents related to the regulator’s Read more about Facebook ends appeal against ICO Cambridge Analytica micro-fine: Doesn’t admit liability, gives away £500k[…]

GitLab pulls U-turn on plan to crank up usage telemetry after both staff and customers cry foul

Posted on by Robin Edgar

VP of product Scott Williamson announced on 10 October that “to make GitLab better faster, we need more data on how users are using GitLab”. GitLab is a web application that runs on Linux, with options for self-hosting or using the company’s cloud service. It is open source, with both free and licensed editions. Williamson Read more about GitLab pulls U-turn on plan to crank up usage telemetry after both staff and customers cry foul[…]

NHS Pagers Are Leaking Sensitive Medical Data – wait, pagers still exist?

Posted on by Robin Edgar

Pagers used within the United Kingdom’s National Health Service are leaking sensitive patient information, and an amateur radio enthusiast has been broadcasting some of that medical data on a webcam livestream, a security researcher has found. TechCrunch reports that Florida-based security researcher Daley Borda stumbled upon the strange confluence of archaic tech that flowed together Read more about NHS Pagers Are Leaking Sensitive Medical Data – wait, pagers still exist?[…]

Notepad++’s ‘Free Uyghur’ release sparks spam tsunami by pro-Chinese – tough shit says developer who has many politically themed releases

Posted on by Robin Edgar

On Tuesday, Don HO, the developer of Notepad++, a free GPL source code editor and notepad application for Microsoft Windows, released version 7.8.1, prompting a social media firestorm and a distributed denial of service attack. Notepad++ v7.8.1 was designated “the Free Uyghur edition,” in reference to the predominantly Muslim ethnic group in western China that Read more about Notepad++’s ‘Free Uyghur’ release sparks spam tsunami by pro-Chinese – tough shit says developer who has many politically themed releases[…]

Government officials around the globe targeted for hacking through WhatsApp – FB fingers Israeli NSO group

Posted on by Robin Edgar

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Senior government officials in multiple U.S.-allied countries were targeted earlier this year with hacking software that used Facebook Inc’s (FB.O) WhatsApp to take over users’ phones, according to people familiar with the messaging company’s investigation. Sources familiar with WhatsApp’s internal investigation into the breach said a “significant” portion of the known victims Read more about Government officials around the globe targeted for hacking through WhatsApp – FB fingers Israeli NSO group[…]

Google has officially purchased Fitbit for $2.1 billion. Now has your fitness data and a wearable OS that’s actually quite good.

Posted on by Robin Edgar

Google’s Senior Vice President of Devices & Services, Rick Osterloh, broke the news on the official Google blog, saying: Over the years, Google has made progress with partners in this space with Wear OS and Google Fit, but we see an opportunity to invest even more in Wear OS as well as introduce Made by Read more about Google has officially purchased Fitbit for $2.1 billion. Now has your fitness data and a wearable OS that’s actually quite good.[…]

Trick or treating Android Emoji keyboard app makes millions of unauthorized purchases $18m blocked

Posted on by Robin Edgar

$18 million of fraudulent charges from the app blocked by malware security platform Secure-D London, October 31st, 2019  – A popular Android keyboard app, ai.type, downloaded more than 40 million times and included in the Google Play app store, has been caught making millions of unauthorized purchases of premium digital content, researchers at mobile technology company Read more about Trick or treating Android Emoji keyboard app makes millions of unauthorized purchases $18m blocked[…]

Dutch inventor who cleans plastic from oceans unveils device to scoop plastic out of rivers

Posted on by Robin Edgar

A young Dutch inventor is widening his effort to clean up floating plastic from the Pacific Ocean by moving into rivers, too, using a new floating device to catch garbage before it reaches the seas. The 25-year-old university dropout Boyan Slat founded The Ocean Cleanup to develop and deploy a system he invented when he Read more about Dutch inventor who cleans plastic from oceans unveils device to scoop plastic out of rivers[…]

Scholars Shouldn’t Fear ‘Dumbing Down’ for the Public

Posted on by Robin Edgar

The internet has made it easier than ever to reach a lot of readers quickly. It has birthed new venues for publication and expanded old ones. At the same time, a sense of urgency of current affairs, from politics to science, technology to the arts, has driven new interest in bringing scholarship to the public Read more about Scholars Shouldn’t Fear ‘Dumbing Down’ for the Public[…]

6% of all U.S. adults twitterers account for 73% of tweets from American adults that mention national politics

Posted on by Robin Edgar

For years now, Twitter has been an important platform for disseminating news and sharing opinions about U.S. politics, and 22% of U.S. adults say they use the platform. But the Twitter conversation about national politics among U.S. adult users is driven by a small number of prolific political tweeters. These users make up just 6% Read more about 6% of all U.S. adults twitterers account for 73% of tweets from American adults that mention national politics[…]

Open database leaked 179GB in customer, US government, and military records

Posted on by Robin Edgar

An open database exposing records containing the sensitive data of hotel customers as well as US military personnel and officials has been disclosed by researchers. On Monday, vpnMentor’s cybersecurity team, led by Noam Rotem and Ran Locar, said the database belonged to Autoclerk, a service owned by Best Western Hotels and Resorts group. Autoclerk is Read more about Open database leaked 179GB in customer, US government, and military records[…]

AI allows paralyzed person to ‘handwrite’ with his mind twice as fast as using a cursor to select letters

Posted on by Robin Edgar

People who are “locked in”—fully paralyzed by stroke or neurological disease—have trouble trying to communicate even a single sentence. Electrodes implanted in a part of the brain involved in motion have allowed some paralyzed patients to move a cursor and select onscreen letters with their thoughts. Users have typed up to 39 characters per minute, Read more about AI allows paralyzed person to ‘handwrite’ with his mind twice as fast as using a cursor to select letters[…]

Google Accused of Creating Spy Tool to Monitor Employees

Posted on by Robin Edgar

Google employees are accusing the company’s leadership of developing an internal surveillance tool that they believe will be used to monitor workers’ attempts to organize protests and discuss labor rights. Earlier this month, employees said they discovered that a team within the company was creating the new tool for the custom Google Chrome browser installed Read more about Google Accused of Creating Spy Tool to Monitor Employees[…]

Maybe It’s Not YouTube’s Algorithm That Radicalizes People but communities forming around the content

Posted on by Robin Edgar

YouTube is the biggest social media platform in the country, and, perhaps, the most misunderstood. Over the past few years, the Google-owned platform has become a media powerhouse where political discussion is dominated by right-wing channels offering an ideological alternative to established news outlets. And, according to new research from Penn State University, these channels Read more about Maybe It’s Not YouTube’s Algorithm That Radicalizes People but communities forming around the content[…]

BBC News launches ‘dark web’ Tor mirror

Posted on by Robin Edgar

The BBC has made its international news website available via the Tor network, in a bid to thwart censorship attempts. The Tor browser is privacy-focused software used to access the dark web. The browser can obscure who is using it and what data is being accessed, which can help people avoid government surveillance and censorship. Read more about BBC News launches ‘dark web’ Tor mirror[…]

SUVs second biggest cause of emissions rise, figures reveal – turns out they are 11% more lethal to driver in an accident too, so maybe just a matter of time before that problem is fixed

Posted on by Robin Edgar

Growing demand for SUVs was the second largest contributor to the increase in global CO2 emissions from 2010 to 2018, an analysis has found. In that period, SUVs doubled their global market share from 17% to 39% and their annual emissions rose to more than 700 megatonnes of CO2, more than the yearly total emissions Read more about SUVs second biggest cause of emissions rise, figures reveal – turns out they are 11% more lethal to driver in an accident too, so maybe just a matter of time before that problem is fixed[…]

Microsoft’s visual data explorer SandDance open sourced

Posted on by Robin Edgar

Microsoft just open sourced their data exploration tool known as SandDance: For those unfamiliar with SandDance, it was introduced nearly four years ago as a system for exploring and presenting data using “unit visualizations.” Instead of aggregating data and showing the resulting sums as bar charts, SandDance shows every single row of a dataset (for Read more about Microsoft’s visual data explorer SandDance open sourced[…]

non toxic recyclable Aluminium Air battery with nine times more density than li-ion batteries finally entering production. Tech has been around since around 1999, Navy veteran refused to accept a ‘no’ to his battery invention

Posted on by Robin Edgar

In 1999, at the peak of Hydrogen fuel cell company start ups in California he left BAe to start his own fuel cell company. “My old boss at Rolls Royce pointed out that the Hydrogen needed to come from somewhere. So I looked at other technologies and found metal-air,”he says. Technically described as “(Al)/air” batteries, Read more about non toxic recyclable Aluminium Air battery with nine times more density than li-ion batteries finally entering production. Tech has been around since around 1999, Navy veteran refused to accept a ‘no’ to his battery invention[…]

Junior minister says gov.UK considering facial recognition to verify age of p0rn-watchers

Posted on by Robin Edgar

The UK government could use facial recognition to verify the age of Brits online “so long as there is an appropriate concern for privacy,” junior minister for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport Matt Warman said. The minister was responding to an urgent Parliamentary question directed to Culture Secretary Nicky Morgan about the future of Blighty’s Read more about Junior minister says gov.UK considering facial recognition to verify age of p0rn-watchers[…]

Mercedes-Benz app glitch exposed car owners’ information to other users

Posted on by Robin Edgar

Mercedes-Benz car owners have said that the app they used to remotely locate, unlock and start their cars was displaying other people’s account and vehicle information. TechCrunch spoke to two customers who said the Mercedes-Benz’ connected car app was pulling in information from other accounts and not their own, allowing them to see other car Read more about Mercedes-Benz app glitch exposed car owners’ information to other users[…]

Japanese hotel chain sorry that hackers may have watched guests through bedside robots

Posted on by Robin Edgar

Japanese hotel chain HIS Group has apologised for ignoring warnings that its in-room robots were hackable to allow pervs to remotely view video footage from the devices. The Henn na Hotel is staffed by robots: guests can be checked in by humanoid or dinosaur reception bots before proceeding to their room. Facial recognition tech will Read more about Japanese hotel chain sorry that hackers may have watched guests through bedside robots[…]