[…]thanks to cosmic geometry, a major chapter in world history has just now come to a close. As first highlighted last year on Reddit, the spring equinox on March 20 marked the sun’s passage over the celestial equator, kicking off half a year of darkness around the South Pole. And given last year’s deal with Read more about The sun has literally set on the British Empire[…]
Much of foreign aid is spent on goods that are shipped overseas: food supplies, medicines, or humanitarian assistance in emergency situations.1 But a surprising amount of what’s reported as foreign aid is not sent abroad; it’s spent domestically. Foreign aid budgets in rich countries can include the costs of hosting refugees, some scholarships to foreign Read more about How much foreign aid is spent domestically rather than overseas?[…]
[…]The IT break-in occurred between April 20 and April 22, last year, according to a notification filed this month with the US state’s attorney general’s office. California Cryobank spotted unauthorized activity on certain computers on April 21, isolated the affected machines, and launched an investigation. The sperm bank hasn’t disclosed how many individuals were affected, Read more about Personal info feared stolen from sperm bank California Crybank[…]
The Pennsylvania State Education Association (PSEA) says a July 2024 “security incident” exposed sensitive personal data on more than half a million individuals, including financial and health info. The nonprofit, which represents more than 178,000 education professionals in the US state of Pennsylvania, confirmed data was stolen during a July 6 attack. According to The Read more about Cyberattack on nonprofit affects over 500k PA school workers[…]
HP Inc. has settled a class action lawsuit in which it was accused of unlawfully blocking customers from using third-party toner cartridges – a practice that left some with useless printers – but won’t pay a cent to make the case go away. One of the named plaintiffs in the case is called Mobile Emergency Read more about HP settles lawsuit for $0 after bricking printers that don’t use HP ink[…]
Users of Microsoft’s email service might be feeling a distinct sense of déjà vu after the web version of Outlook last night blocked access to Exchange Online mailboxes. According to Microsoft, the problem was due to “a recent change made to a portion of Outlook on the web infrastructure, that may have resulted in impact.” Read more about Microsoft blames Outlook outage on another dodgy code change[…]
What if you could listen to music or a podcast without headphones or earbuds and without disturbing anyone around you? Or have a private conversation in public without other people hearing you? Our newly published research introduces a way to create audible enclaves – localized pockets of sound that are isolated from their surroundings. In Read more about No Headphones, No Problem: This Acoustic Trick Bends Sound Through Space to Find You[…]
In a moment of clarity after initially moving forward a deeply flawed piece of legislation, the French National Assembly has done the right thing: it rejected a dangerous proposal that would have gutted end-to-end encryption in the name of fighting drug trafficking. Despite heavy pressure from the Interior Ministry, lawmakers voted Thursday night (article in Read more about A Win for human rights: France Rejects Backdoor Mandate[…]
The data was stored in Google Maps’ Timeline feature, which – for those of you who let Google track you around the world – preserves a record of locations you visit. That sounds creepy and perhaps creepier still once you realize Google makes it possible for photos to appear on the Timeline too, so that Read more about ‘Technical issue’ at Google deletes some customer maps timeline data[…]
China’s Cyberspace Administration and Ministry of Public Security has outlawed the use of facial recognition without consent. The two orgs last Friday published new rules on facial recognition and an explainer that spell out how orgs that want to use facial recognition must first conduct a “personal information protection impact assessment” that considers whether using Read more about China bans facial recognition without consent and in all public places. And it needs to be encrypted.[…]
23andMe has capped off a challenging few years by filing for Chapter 11 bankruptcy today. Given the uncertainty around the future of the DNA testing company and what will happen to all of the genetic data it has collected, now is a critical time for customers to protect their privacy. California Attorney General Rob Bonta Read more about 23andMe files for bankruptcy: How to delete your data before it’s sold off[…]
In the biggest development for U.S. Air Force tactical air power in more than two decades, Boeing has been announced as the winner of the service’s Next Generation Air Dominance (NGAD) ‘fighter’ initiative. As the centerpiece of the NGAD effort, the new crewed sixth-generation stealth combat jet, now designated the F-47, is set to change Read more about Boeing Wins F-47 Next Generation Air Dominance Fighter Contract[…]