Month: January 2025

Phone Metadata Suddenly Not So ‘Harmless’ When It’s The FBI’s Data Being Harvested

Posted on by Robin Edgar

[…] While trying to fend off attacks on Section 215 collections (most of which are governed [in the loosest sense of the word] by the Third Party Doctrine), the NSA and its domestic-facing remora, the FBI, insisted collecting and storing massive amounts of phone metadata was no more a constitutional violation than it was a Read more about Phone Metadata Suddenly Not So ‘Harmless’ When It’s The FBI’s Data Being Harvested[…]

Trump Disbands Cybersecurity Board Investigating Worst Hack in US History: Massive Chinese Phone System Invasion

Posted on by Robin Edgar

[…] We’re still nowhere near understanding just how bad the Chinese hack of our phone system was. The incident that was only discovered last fall involved the Chinese hacking group Salt Typhoon, which used the US’s CALEA phone wiretapping system as a backdoor to gain incredible, unprecedented access to much of the US’s phone system Read more about Trump Disbands Cybersecurity Board Investigating Worst Hack in US History: Massive Chinese Phone System Invasion[…]

Circle to Search now offers one-tap actions for phone numbers, emails and URLs

Posted on by Robin Edgar

[…] As a reminder, Circle to Search is an AI-powered feature Google released at the start of last year. You can access it by long-pressing your phone’s home button and then circling something with your finger. At its most basic, the feature is a way to use Google Search from anywhere on your phone, with Read more about Circle to Search now offers one-tap actions for phone numbers, emails and URLs[…]

Subaru Security Flaws Exposed Its System for Tracking, remote controlling Millions of Cars

Posted on by Robin Edgar

About a year ago, security researcher Sam Curry bought his mother a Subaru, on the condition that, at some point in the near future, she let him hack it. It took Curry until last November, when he was home for Thanksgiving, to begin examining the 2023 Impreza’s internet-connected features and start looking for ways to Read more about Subaru Security Flaws Exposed Its System for Tracking, remote controlling Millions of Cars[…]

Magic packet Backdoor found on Juniper VPN routers

Posted on by Robin Edgar

Someone has been quietly backdooring selected Juniper routers around the world in key sectors including semiconductor, energy, and manufacturing, since at least mid-2023. The devices were infected with what appears to be a variant of cd00r, a publicly available “invisible backdoor” designed to operate stealthily on a victim’s machine by monitoring network traffic for specific Read more about Magic packet Backdoor found on Juniper VPN routers[…]

F-35 AI-Enabled Drone Controller Capability Successfully Demonstrated

Posted on by Robin Edgar

Lockheed Martin says the stealthy F-35 Joint Strike Fighter now has a firmly demonstrated ability to act as an in-flight ‘quarterback’ for advanced drones like the U.S. Air Force’s future Collaborative Combat Aircraft (CCA) with the help of artificial intelligence-enabled systems. The company states that its testing has also shown a touchscreen tablet-like device is Read more about F-35 AI-Enabled Drone Controller Capability Successfully Demonstrated[…]

The EU’s AI Act – a very quick primer on what and why

Posted on by Robin Edgar

Have you ever been in a group project where one person decided to take a shortcut, and suddenly, everyone ended up under stricter rules? That’s essentially what the EU is saying to tech companies with the AI Act: “Because some of you couldn’t resist being creepy, we now have to regulate everything.” This legislation isn’t Read more about The EU’s AI Act – a very quick primer on what and why[…]

Inheritance, “cronyism and corruption” or monopoly power grows billionaire wealth in 2024 in second-largest annual increase since records began

Posted on by Robin Edgar

The wealth of the world’s billionaires grew by $2tn (£1.64tn) last year, three times faster than in 2023, amounting to $5.7bn (£4.7bn) a day, according to a report by Oxfam. The latest inequality report from the charity reveals that the world is now on track to have five trillionaires within a decade, a change from Read more about Inheritance, “cronyism and corruption” or monopoly power grows billionaire wealth in 2024 in second-largest annual increase since records began[…]

Bluesky 2024 Moderation Report shows 17x more user content reports with 10x user growth fed by Brazilians serial complainers

Posted on by Robin Edgar

[…] In 2024, Bluesky grew from 2.89M users to 25.94M users. In addition to users hosted on Bluesky’s infrastructure, there are over 4,000 users running their own infrastructure (Personal Data Servers), self-hosting their content, posts, and data. To meet the demands caused by user growth, we’ve increased our moderation team to roughly 100 moderators and Read more about Bluesky 2024 Moderation Report shows 17x more user content reports with 10x user growth fed by Brazilians serial complainers[…]

ChatGPT crawler flaw opens door to DDoS, prompt injection

Posted on by Robin Edgar

In a write-up shared this month via Microsoft’s GitHub, Benjamin Flesch, a security researcher in Germany, explains how a single HTTP request to the ChatGPT API can be used to flood a targeted website with network requests from the ChatGPT crawler, specifically ChatGPT-User. This flood of connections may or may not be enough to knock Read more about ChatGPT crawler flaw opens door to DDoS, prompt injection[…]

Robotic exoskeleton can train expert pianists to play faster

Posted on by Robin Edgar

A robotic hand exoskeleton can help expert pianists learn to play even faster by moving their fingers for them. Robotic exoskeletons have long been used to rehabilitate people who can no longer use their hands due to an injury or medical condition, but using them to improve the abilities of able-bodied people has been less Read more about Robotic exoskeleton can train expert pianists to play faster[…]

As Zuckerberg Goes Around Whining About Biden, He Made Sure To First Get His New Approach Approved By Trump

Posted on by Robin Edgar

Remember how Zuckerberg was “done with politics”? Remember how he promised that he was going to stop doing what politicians demanded he do? Now it turns out that he not only did his big set of moderation changes to please Trump, but did so only after he was told by the incoming administration to act. Read more about As Zuckerberg Goes Around Whining About Biden, He Made Sure To First Get His New Approach Approved By Trump[…]

NY Post: Fact Checking Is Now Censorship

Posted on by Robin Edgar

This was inevitable, ever since Donald Trump and the MAGA world freaked out when social media’s attempts to fact-check the President were deemed “censorship.” The reaction was both swift and entirely predictable. After all, how dare anyone question Dear Leader’s proclamations, even if they are demonstrably false? It wasn’t long before we started to see Read more about NY Post: Fact Checking Is Now Censorship[…]

A new optical memory platform for super fast calculations

Posted on by Robin Edgar

[…] photonics, which offers lower energy consumption and reduced latency than electronics. One of the most promising approaches is in-memory computing, which requires the use of photonic memories. Passing light signals through these memories makes it possible to perform operations nearly instantaneously. But solutions proposed for creating such memories have faced challenges such as low Read more about A new optical memory platform for super fast calculations[…]

Why Has Zuckerberg stopped Meta Fact Checking? Trump lifetime prison threats and FCC section 230 removal threats?

Posted on by Robin Edgar

If you only remember two things about the government pressure campaign to influence Mark Zuckerberg’s content moderation decisions, make it these: Donald Trump directly threatened to throw Zuck in prison for the rest of his life, and just a couple months ago FCC Commissioner (soon to be FCC chair) Brendan Carr threatened Meta that if Read more about Why Has Zuckerberg stopped Meta Fact Checking? Trump lifetime prison threats and FCC section 230 removal threats?[…]

Robot arm developed that allows sense of touch

Posted on by Robin Edgar

You can probably complete an amazing number of tasks with your hands without looking at them. But if you put on gloves that muffle your sense of touch, many of those simple tasks become frustrating. Take away proprioception — your ability to sense your body’s relative position and movement — and you might even end Read more about Robot arm developed that allows sense of touch[…]

You don’t need to make up like a clown to defeat AI face detection

Posted on by Robin Edgar

In a pre-print paper titled “Novel AI Camera Camouflage: Face Cloaking Without Full Disguise,” David Noever, chief scientist, and Forrest McKee, data scientist, describe their efforts to baffle face recognition systems through the minimal application of makeup and manipulation of image files. Noever and McKee recount various defenses that have been proposed against facial recognition Read more about You don’t need to make up like a clown to defeat AI face detection[…]

Pixelfed Is an Instagram Alternative That Feels Like a Return to the Glory Days of Photo Sharing with your friends

Posted on by Robin Edgar

Are you one of the many reconsidering their relationship with Meta’s Instagram? If you’re looking for another outlet to share your photos, Pixelfed, an open source photo-sharing alternative without ads or tracking, has officially launched mobile apps for Android and iPhone. These apps, which allow you to upload photos and videos directly from your phone, Read more about Pixelfed Is an Instagram Alternative That Feels Like a Return to the Glory Days of Photo Sharing with your friends[…]

I knew one day I’d have to watch powerful men burn the world down – I just didn’t expect them to be such losers

Posted on by Robin Edgar

I don’t know if anyone else has noticed this but everything seems to be going down the tubes quite fast. And not fun tubes, like at a waterpark. The “ending in shit” kind. The issues are complicated, the reasons diverse, but there are a few culprits who have been making themselves extremely visible. Alongside those Read more about I knew one day I’d have to watch powerful men burn the world down – I just didn’t expect them to be such losers[…]

Meta says it isn’t ending fact-checks outside the US yet

Posted on by Robin Edgar

Social media platform Meta has confirmed that its fact-checking feature on Facebook, Instagram and Threads will only be removed in the US for now, according to a Jan. 13 letter sent to Brazil’s government. “Meta has already clarified that, at this time, it is terminating its independent Fact-Checking Program only in the United States, where Read more about Meta says it isn’t ending fact-checks outside the US yet[…]

Finally USB decides to use sane terminology to label cables

Posted on by Robin Edgar

In 2019, the names used by the USB Implementor Forum’s engineering teams to describe the various speeds of USB got leaked, and the backlash (including our own) was harsh. Names like “USB 3.2 Gen 2” mean nothing to consumers — but neither do marketing-style terms, such as “SuperSpeed USB 10Gbps.” It’s the latter speed-only designation Read more about Finally USB decides to use sane terminology to label cables[…]

Mastodon announces transition to nonprofit structure – does what OpenAI should have done

Posted on by Robin Edgar

Decentralized social network organization Mastodon said Monday that it is planning to create a new nonprofit organization in Europe and hand over ownership of entities responsible for key Mastodon ecosystem and platform components. This means one person won’t have control over the entire project. The organization is trying to differentiate itself from social networks controlled Read more about Mastodon announces transition to nonprofit structure – does what OpenAI should have done[…]

Sonos finally CEO steps down after app upgrade debacle

Posted on by Robin Edgar

Smart speaker outfit Sonos has parted ways with CEO Patrick Spence, who oversaw the release of an app that was billed as an upgrade but instead made the company’s products worse and riled customers. Sonos teased the software in an April 2024 announcement headlined “Sonos Unveils Completely Reimagined Sonos App, Bringing Services, Content and System Read more about Sonos finally CEO steps down after app upgrade debacle[…]

Researchers make comfortable materials that generate power when worn

Posted on by Robin Edgar

Researchers have demonstrated new wearable technologies that both generate electricity from human movement and improve the comfort of the technology for the people wearing them. The work stems from an advanced understanding of materials that increase comfort in textiles and produce electricity when they rub against another surface. At issue are molecules called amphiphiles, which Read more about Researchers make comfortable materials that generate power when worn[…]