The Linkielist

Linking ideas with the world

A simple experiment revealed the complex ‘thoughts’ of fungi – yes vegans and vegetarians: plants also really live and think.

Posted on by Robin Edgar

Fungi are fascinating lifeforms that defy conventional notions of animal intelligence. They don’t have brains, yet display clear signs of decision making and communication. But just how complex are these organisms and what can they tell us about other forms of awareness? To begin investigating these mysteries, researchers at Japan’s Tohoku University and Nagaoka College Read more about A simple experiment revealed the complex ‘thoughts’ of fungi – yes vegans and vegetarians: plants also really live and think.[…]

OpenAI’s GPT Store Has Left Some Developers in the Lurch

Posted on by Robin Edgar

[…] when OpenAI CEO Sam Altman spoke at the dev day, he touched on potential earning opportunities for developers. “Revenue sharing is important to us,” Altman said.” We’re going to pay people who build the most useful and the most-used GPTs a portion of our revenue.” […] Books GPT, which churns out personalized book recommendations Read more about OpenAI’s GPT Store Has Left Some Developers in the Lurch[…]

Oregon police find bag full of drugs marked ‘definitely not a bag full of drugs’

Posted on by Robin Edgar

Police officers in Portland, Oregon, stopped a car Tuesday night when they noticed a bag inside that said “Definitely not a bag full of drugs”. It, in fact, was – full of drugs: 79 blue fentanyl pills, three fake oxycodone tablets and 230g of methamphetamine, to be exact. […] Source: Oregon police find bag full Read more about Oregon police find bag full of drugs marked ‘definitely not a bag full of drugs’[…]

Steam adds the harsh truth that you’re buying “a license,” not the game itself

Posted on by Robin Edgar

It’s scary to think about how many games in your backlog will never get played; scarier, still, to think about how you don’t, in most real senses of the word, own any of them. Now Valve, seemingly working to comply with a new California law targeting “false advertising” of “digital goods,” has added language to Read more about Steam adds the harsh truth that you’re buying “a license,” not the game itself[…]

Windows 11 24H2 hoards 8.63 GB of junk you can’t delete, blue screens with anti cheat, fingerprint sensors break, mouse cursor problems, VR glasses bricked

Posted on by Robin Edgar

Windows 11 24H2 users are finding there is undeletable data that remains on their devices after installing the recently released feature update. The known issues list has not grown in the days since the rollout on October 15, however, for many users – this writer included – attempts to clean up the detritus after the Read more about Windows 11 24H2 hoards 8.63 GB of junk you can’t delete, blue screens with anti cheat, fingerprint sensors break, mouse cursor problems, VR glasses bricked[…]

Study: Disappointment, not hatred probably driving polarization in the states

Posted on by Robin Edgar

A new study is redefining how we understand affective polarization. The study proposes that disappointment, rather than hatred, may be the dominant emotion driving the growing divide between ideological groups. The findings are published in the journal Cognition and Emotion. The team was led by Ph.D. student Mabelle Kretchner from the Department of Psychology at Read more about Study: Disappointment, not hatred probably driving polarization in the states[…]

It could take over 40 years for PFAS to leave groundwater

Posted on by Robin Edgar

Per- and polyfluoroalkyl chemicals, known commonly as PFAS, could take over 40 years to flush out of contaminated groundwater in North Carolina’s Cumberland and Bladen counties, according to a new study from North Carolina State University. The study used a novel combination of data on PFAS, groundwater age-dating tracers, and groundwater flux to forecast PFAS Read more about It could take over 40 years for PFAS to leave groundwater[…]

How personal care products affect indoor air quality

Posted on by Robin Edgar

The personal care products we use on a daily basis significantly affect indoor air quality, according to new research by a team at EPFL. When used indoors, these products release a cocktail of more than 200 volatile organic compounds (VOCs) into the air, and when those VOCs come into contact with ozone, the chemical reactions Read more about How personal care products affect indoor air quality[…]

Microsoft applies fix for new Outlook desktop crashes

Posted on by Robin Edgar

Microsoft’s Outlook app is crashing for European users due to memory problems, Redmond has warned, and evidence suggests the problems are spreading to the US. “We’re investigating an issue in which users in Europe may be experiencing crashing, not receiving emails or observing high memory usage when using the Outlook client,” Redmond warned. “We’re analyzing Read more about Microsoft applies fix for new Outlook desktop crashes[…]

Face matching now available on GSA’s login.gov, however it still doesn’t work in minimum 10% of the time

Posted on by Robin Edgar

The US government’s General Services Administration’s (GSA) facial matching login service is now generally available to the public and other federal agencies, despite its own recent report admitting the tech is far from perfect. The GSA announced general availability of remote identity verification (RiDV) technology through login.gov, and the service’s availability to other federal government Read more about Face matching now available on GSA’s login.gov, however it still doesn’t work in minimum 10% of the time[…]

Italy is losing its mind because of copyright: it just made its awful Piracy Shield even worse

Posted on by Robin Edgar

Walled Culture has been writing about Italy’s Piracy Shield system for a year now. It was clear from early on that its approach of blocking Internet addresses (IP addresses) to fight alleged copyright infringement – particularly the streaming of football matches – was flawed, and risked turning into another fiasco like France’s failed Hadopi law. Read more about Italy is losing its mind because of copyright: it just made its awful Piracy Shield even worse[…]

Lagrange Points visualised, explained and what satellites are parked there

Posted on by Robin Edgar

Orbital mechanics is a fun subject, as it involves a lot of seemingly empty space that’s nevertheless full of very real forces, all of which must be taken into account lest one’s spacecraft ends up performing a sudden lithobraking maneuver into a planet or other significant collection of matter in said mostly empty space. The Read more about Lagrange Points visualised, explained and what satellites are parked there[…]

MoneyGram says hackers stole customers’ personal information and transaction data

Posted on by Robin Edgar

U.S. money transfer giant MoneyGram has confirmed that hackers stole its customers’ personal information and transaction data during a cyberattack last month. The company said in a statement Monday that an unauthorized third party “accessed and acquired” customer data during the cyberattack on September 20. The cyberattack — the nature of which remains unknown — Read more about MoneyGram says hackers stole customers’ personal information and transaction data[…]

DOJ Reveals Its Plan for Breaking Up Google’s Search Monopoly

Posted on by Robin Edgar

The Department of Justice has laid out its broad-strokes plan for ending Google’s monopoly over internet search after winning its antitrust case against the company in August. The sweeping changes could end Google’s position as the default search engine on billions of devices and require the company to share key information about its search algorithms Read more about DOJ Reveals Its Plan for Breaking Up Google’s Search Monopoly[…]

Chinese 3x ISP hack shows why world is right about security backdoors and politicians and security people who want them are idiots

Posted on by Robin Edgar

It was revealed this weekend that Chinese hackers managed to access systems run by three of the largest internet service providers (ISPs) in the US. What’s notable about the attack is that it compromised security backdoors deliberately created to allow for wiretaps by US law enforcement … […] Apple famously refused the FBI’s request to Read more about Chinese 3x ISP hack shows why world is right about security backdoors and politicians and security people who want them are idiots[…]

Pro-Palistian Hacktivists Claim Responsibility for Taking Down the Internet Archive, piss off pro Palestinians globally

Posted on by Robin Edgar

[…] A pro-Palestenian hacktivist group called SN_BLACKMETA has taken responsibility for the hack on X and Telegram. “They are under attack because the archive belongs to the USA, and as we all know, this horrendous and hypocritical government supports the genocide that is being carried out by the terrorist state of ‘Israel,’” the group said Read more about Pro-Palistian Hacktivists Claim Responsibility for Taking Down the Internet Archive, piss off pro Palestinians globally[…]

Internet Archive hacked, data breach impacts 31 million users

Posted on by Robin Edgar

Internet Archive’s “The Wayback Machine” has suffered a data breach after a threat actor compromised the website and stole a user authentication database containing 31 million unique records. News of the breach began circulating Wednesday afternoon after visitors to archive.org began seeing a JavaScript alert created by the hacker, stating that the Internet Archive was breached. Read more about Internet Archive hacked, data breach impacts 31 million users[…]

Scientists discover a secret to regulating our body clock, offering new approach to end jet lag, sleep quality

Posted on by Robin Edgar

Scientists from Duke-NUS Medical School and the University of California, Santa Cruz, have discovered the secret to regulating our internal clock. They identified that this regulator sits right at the tail end of Casein Kinase 1 delta (CK1δ), a protein which acts as a pace setter for our internal biological clock or the natural 24-hour Read more about Scientists discover a secret to regulating our body clock, offering new approach to end jet lag, sleep quality[…]

Supreme Court Snubs Martin Shkreli’s Last-Ditch Bid to Avoid $64 Million Fine over hiking unique life saving drug price from $13.50 to $750 a pill

Posted on by Robin Edgar

Martin Shkreli has been fighting a $64.6 million fine he acquired in 2022 for blocking affordable alternatives to Daraprim, a lifesaving antiparasitic drug. Shockingly, it turns out nobody on the Supreme Court cares to hear about it. No justices dissented on Monday when the court said it declined to hear an appeal by representatives of Read more about Supreme Court Snubs Martin Shkreli’s Last-Ditch Bid to Avoid $64 Million Fine over hiking unique life saving drug price from $13.50 to $750 a pill[…]

Epic judge orders Google to let rivals set up app stores

Posted on by Robin Edgar

A US court has ordered Google to refrain from a wide variety of business practices the web giant uses to bolster its Play Store, as a consequence of its December 2023 antitrust defeat against Epic Games. In that case, Epic argued that Google’s Play Store rules and contractual agreements with developers and partners violated the Read more about Epic judge orders Google to let rivals set up app stores[…]

23andMe is on the brink. What happens to all that genetic DNA data?

Posted on by Robin Edgar

[…] The one-and-done nature of Wiles’ experience is indicative of a core business problem with the once high-flying biotech company that is now teetering on the brink of collapse. Wiles and many of 23andMe’s 15 million other customers never returned. They paid once for a saliva kit, then moved on. Shares of 23andMe are now Read more about 23andMe is on the brink. What happens to all that genetic DNA data?[…]

Google’s AI enshittifies search summaries with ads

Posted on by Robin Edgar

Google is rolling out ads in AI Overviews, which means you’ll now start seeing products in some of the search engine’s AI-generated summaries. Let’s say you’re searching for ways to get a grass stain out of your pants. If you ask Google, its AI-generated response will offer some tips, along with suggestions for products to Read more about Google’s AI enshittifies search summaries with ads[…]

License Plate Readers Are Creating a US-Wide Database of Cars – and political affiliation, planned parenthood and more

Posted on by Robin Edgar

At 8:22 am on December 4 last year, a car traveling down a small residential road in Alabama used its license-plate-reading cameras to take photos of vehicles it passed. One image, which does not contain a vehicle or a license plate, shows a bright red “Trump” campaign sign placed in front of someone’s garage. In Read more about License Plate Readers Are Creating a US-Wide Database of Cars – and political affiliation, planned parenthood and more[…]

Insecure Robot Vacuums From Chinese Company Deebot Collect Photos and Audio to Train Their AI

Posted on by Robin Edgar

Ecovacs robot vacuums, which have been found to suffer from critical cybersecurity flaws, are collecting photos, videos and voice recordings — taken inside customers’ houses — to train the company’s AI models. The Chinese home robotics company, which sells a range of popular Deebot models in Australia, said its users are “willingly participating” in a Read more about Insecure Robot Vacuums From Chinese Company Deebot Collect Photos and Audio to Train Their AI[…]

Microsoft bricks Windows MR / VR In Windows 11 24H2

Posted on by Robin Edgar

Microsoft has removed Windows Mixed Reality from Windows 11. With Windows 11 24H2, the latest major version of Microsoft’s PC operating system, you can no longer use a Windows MR headset in any way – not even on Steam. This includes all the Windows MR headsets from Acer, Asus, Dell, HP, Lenovo, and Samsung, including Read more about Microsoft bricks Windows MR / VR In Windows 11 24H2[…]