The Linkielist

Linking ideas with the world

Microsoft tells resellers: ‘We listened to you, and we have acted’ (PS: Plz keep making us money)

Posted on by Robin Edgar

Faced with continued rumbles of discontent from its reseller network on the eve of its Inspire conference, Microsoft has climbed down from plans to pull free software licences from its channel chums. Doubtless fearful of a keynote sabotaged by a baying mob of angry resellers, Microsoft corporate veep for commercial partners Gavriella Schuster was tasked Read more about Microsoft tells resellers: ‘We listened to you, and we have acted’ (PS: Plz keep making us money)[…]

Bitpoint cryptocurrency exchange hacked for $32 million

Posted on by Robin Edgar

Japan-based cryptocurrency exchange Bitpoint announced it lost 3.5 billion yen (roughly $32 million) worth of cryptocurrency assets after a hack that happened late yesterday, July 11. The exchange suspended all deposits and withdrawals this morning to investigate the hack, it said in a press release. Thoroughly compromised In a more detailed document released by RemixPoint, Read more about Bitpoint cryptocurrency exchange hacked for $32 million[…]

FTC Fines Facebook $5 Billion for Cambridge Analytica – not  very much considering earnings – and does not curtail future breaches

Posted on by Robin Edgar

The Federal Trade Commission, which has been investigating Facebook in the wake of its massive Cambridge Analytica scandal, has voted to approve levying a massive $5 billion fine against the social media giant, according to reporting in both the Wall Street Journal and the Washington Post. It’s the single largest fine against a tech company Read more about FTC Fines Facebook $5 Billion for Cambridge Analytica – not  very much considering earnings – and does not curtail future breaches[…]

Palantir’s Top-Secret User Manual for Cops shows how easily they can find scary amounts of information on you and your friends

Posted on by Robin Edgar

Through a public record request, Motherboard has obtained a user manual that gives unprecedented insight into Palantir Gotham (Palantir’s other services, Palantir Foundry, is an enterprise data platform), which is used by law enforcement agencies like the Northern California Regional Intelligence Center. The NCRIC serves around 300 communities in northern California and is what is Read more about Palantir’s Top-Secret User Manual for Cops shows how easily they can find scary amounts of information on you and your friends[…]

It turns out Bystanders do Help Strangers in Need

Posted on by Robin Edgar

Research dating back to the late 1960s documents how the great majority of people who witness crimes or violent behavior refuse to intervene. Psychologists dubbed this non-response as the “bystander effect”—a phenomenon which has been replicated in scores of subsequent psychological studies. The “bystander effect” holds that the reason people don’t intervene is because we Read more about It turns out Bystanders do Help Strangers in Need[…]

Carbon nanotube device channels heat into light, could increase solar panel efficiency

Posted on by Robin Edgar

The ever-more-humble carbon nanotube may be just the device to make solar panels—and anything else that loses energy through heat—far more efficient. Rice University scientists are designing arrays of aligned single-wall carbon nanotubes to channel mid-infrared radiation (aka heat) and greatly raise the efficiency of solar energy systems. Gururaj Naik and Junichiro Kono of Rice’s Read more about Carbon nanotube device channels heat into light, could increase solar panel efficiency[…]

Reddit Is Down as the Summer of Outages Continues

Posted on by Robin Edgar

Users began to report outages a little over an hour ago. For this writer, the problem first presented as weirdness with Reddit’s login server and front page timeline, but it quickly worsened. Now navigating to reddit.com is rewarding many with 503 errors. The outage seems to have hit users visiting Reddit on desktop the hardest. Read more about Reddit Is Down as the Summer of Outages Continues[…]

Microsoft stirs suspicions by adding telemetry spyware to security-only update

Posted on by Robin Edgar

Under Microsoft’s rules, what it calls “Security-only updates” are supposed to include, well, only security updates, not quality fixes or diagnostic tools. Nearly three years ago, Microsoft split its monthly update packages for Windows 7 and Windows 8.1 into two distinct offerings: a monthly rollup of updates and fixes and, for those who are want only those Read more about Microsoft stirs suspicions by adding telemetry spyware to security-only update[…]

Windows 10 SFC /scannow Can’t Fix Corrupted Files After Update

Posted on by Robin Edgar

Starting today, Windows 10 users are finding that the /sfc scannow feature is no longer working and that it states it found, but could not fix, corrupted Windows Defender PowerShell files. The Windows System File Checker tool, commonly known as SFC, has a /scannow argument that will check the integrity of all protected Winodws system files and Read more about Windows 10 SFC /scannow Can’t Fix Corrupted Files After Update[…]

Apple removes Zoom’s dodgy hidden web server on your Mac without telling you – shows who really pwns your machine

Posted on by Robin Edgar

Apple has pushed a silent update to Macs, disabling the hidden web server installed by the popular Zoom web-conferencing software. A security researcher this week went public with his finding that the mechanism used to bypass a Safari prompt before entering a Zoom conference was a hidden local web server. Jonathan Leitschuh focused largely on Read more about Apple removes Zoom’s dodgy hidden web server on your Mac without telling you – shows who really pwns your machine[…]

Apple disables Walkie Talkie app due to vulnerability that could allow iPhone eavesdropping

Posted on by Robin Edgar

Apple has disabled the Apple Watch Walkie Talkie app due to an unspecified vulnerability that could allow a person to listen to another customer’s iPhone without consent, the company told TechCrunch this evening. Apple has apologized for the bug and for the inconvenience of being unable to use the feature while a fix is made. Read more about Apple disables Walkie Talkie app due to vulnerability that could allow iPhone eavesdropping[…]

‘Superhuman’ AI Crushes Poker Pros at Six-Player Texas Hold’em

Posted on by Robin Edgar

Computer scientists have developed a card-playing bot, called Pluribus, capable of defeating some of the world’s best players at six-person no-limit Texas hold’em poker, in what’s considered an important breakthrough in artificial intelligence. Two years ago, a research team from Carnegie Mellon University developed a similar poker-playing system, called Libratus, which consistently defeated the world’s Read more about ‘Superhuman’ AI Crushes Poker Pros at Six-Player Texas Hold’em[…]

Google admits leaked private voice conversations, decides to clamp down on whistleblowers, not improve privacy

Posted on by Robin Edgar

Google admitted on Thursday that more than 1,000 sound recordings of customer conversations with the Google Assistant were leaked by some of its partners to a Belgian news site. […] “We just learned that one of these language reviewers has violated our data security policies by leaking confidential Dutch audio data,” Google product manager of Read more about Google admits leaked private voice conversations, decides to clamp down on whistleblowers, not improve privacy[…]

How American Corporations Are Policing Online Speech Worldwide

Posted on by Robin Edgar

In the winter of 2010, a 19-year-old Moroccan man named Kacem Ghazzali logged into his email to find a message from Facebook informing him that a group he had created just a few days prior had been removed from the platform without explanation. The group, entitled “Jeunes pour la séparation entre Religion et Enseignement” (or Read more about How American Corporations Are Policing Online Speech Worldwide[…]

T-Mobile Says Customers Can’t Sue Because It Violates Its ToS

Posted on by Robin Edgar

T-Mobile screwed over millions of customers when it collected their geolocation data and sold it to third parties without their consent. Now, two of these customers are trying to pursue a class-action lawsuit against the company for the shady practice, but the telecom giant is using another shady practice to force them to settle their Read more about T-Mobile Says Customers Can’t Sue Because It Violates Its ToS[…]

Google contractors are secretly listening to your Assistant and Home recordings

Posted on by Robin Edgar

Not only is your Google Home device listening to you, a new report suggests there might be a Google contractor who’s listening as well. Even if you didn’t ask your device any questions, it’s still sending what you say to the company, who allow an actual person to collect data from it. […] VRT, with Read more about Google contractors are secretly listening to your Assistant and Home recordings[…]

Prenda Law bosses in jail for seeding porn videos to d/l sites and then suing the downloaders

Posted on by Robin Edgar

One of the former attorneys behind dodgy copyright-demand factory Prenda Law has been sentenced to 60 months in prison. Yes, the same Prenda Law that seeded file-sharing networks with smut flicks it owned the rights to in order to extract eye-watering copyright infringement settlements from downloaders. Judge Joan Ericksen, of a US federal district court Read more about Prenda Law bosses in jail for seeding porn videos to d/l sites and then suing the downloaders[…]

AI Trained on Old Scientific Papers Makes Discoveries Humans Missed

Posted on by Robin Edgar

In a study published in Nature on July 3, researchers from the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory used an algorithm called Word2Vec sift through scientific papers for connections humans had missed. Their algorithm then spit out predictions for possible thermoelectric materials, which convert heat to energy and are used in many heating and cooling applications. The Read more about AI Trained on Old Scientific Papers Makes Discoveries Humans Missed[…]

Scientists 3D-print human skin and bone for Mars astronauts

Posted on by Robin Edgar

Scientists from the University Hospital of Dresden Technical University in Germany bio-printed skin and bone samples upside down to help determine if the method could be used in a low-gravity environment. It worked. ESA released videos of the printing in action. The skin sample was printed using human blood plasma as a “bio ink.” The researchers added Read more about Scientists 3D-print human skin and bone for Mars astronauts[…]

Study finds that parental ‘memory’ is inherited across generations

Posted on by Robin Edgar

“While neuronally encoded behavior isn’t thought to be inherited across generations, we wanted to test the possibility that environmentally triggered modifications could allow ‘memory’ of parental experiences to be inherited,” explains Julianna “Lita” Bozler, a Ph.D. candidate in the Bosco Lab at the Geisel School of Medicine, who served as lead author on the study. Read more about Study finds that parental ‘memory’ is inherited across generations[…]

Microsoft Action Pack software no longer for all sellers of MS products, reseller rebellion

Posted on by Robin Edgar

More than 2,500 resellers and integrators have signed a petition opposing Microsoft’s intention to remove free software licences granted to members of the channel to run their business.The changes are described here:Effective July 1, 2020, we will retire the internal use rights (IUR) association with the product licenses partners receive in the Microsoft Action Pack Read more about Microsoft Action Pack software no longer for all sellers of MS products, reseller rebellion[…]

Over 90 Million Records Leaked by Chinese Public Security Department

Posted on by Robin Edgar

A publicly accessible and unsecured ElasticSearch server owned by the Jiangsu Provincial Public Security Department of the Chinese province Jiangsu leaked two databases containing over 90 million people and business records. Jiangsu (江苏省) is an eastern-central coastal Chinese province with a population of over 80 million and an urban population of more than 55 million accounting for 68.76% of Read more about Over 90 Million Records Leaked by Chinese Public Security Department[…]

Magento webshop Automated Magecart Campaign Hits Over 960 Breached Stores

Posted on by Robin Edgar

A large-scale payment card skimming campaign that successfully breached 962 e-commerce stores was discovered today by Magento security research company Sanguine Security. The campaign seems to be automated according to Sanguine Security researcher Willem de Groot who told BleepingComputer that the card skimming script was added within a 24-hour timeframe. “It would be nearly impossible to breach 960+ Read more about Magento webshop Automated Magecart Campaign Hits Over 960 Breached Stores[…]