Author: Robin Edgar

Organisational Structures | Technology and Science | Military, IT and Lifestyle consultancy | Social, Broadcast & Cross Media | Flying aircraft

“Deny, denounce, delay”: ultra-processed food companies fighting using big tobacco type tactics

Posted on by Robin Edgar

When the Brazilian nutritional scientist Carlos Monteiro coined the term “ultra-processed foods” 15 years ago, he established what he calls a “new paradigm” for assessing the impact of diet on health. Monteiro had noticed that although Brazilian households were spending less on sugar and oil, obesity rates were going up. The paradox could be explained Read more about “Deny, denounce, delay”: ultra-processed food companies fighting using big tobacco type tactics[…]

2.8M US folks’ personal info swiped in Sav-Rx IT heist – 8 months ago

Posted on by Robin Edgar

Sav-Rx has started notifying about 2.8 million people that their personal information was likely stolen during an IT intrusion that happened more than seven months ago. The biz provides prescription drug management services to more than 10 million US workers and their families, via their employers or unions. It first spotted the network “interruption” on Read more about 2.8M US folks’ personal info swiped in Sav-Rx IT heist – 8 months ago[…]

Google’s technical info about search ranking leaks online

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A trove of documents that appear to describe how Google ranks search results has appeared online, likely as the result of accidental publication by an in-house bot. The leaked documentation describes an old version of Google’s Content Warehouse API and provides a glimpse of Google Search’s inner workings. The material appears to have been inadvertently Read more about Google’s technical info about search ranking leaks online[…]

Lawyers To Plastic Makers: Prepare For ‘Astronomical’ PFAS Lawsuits

Posted on by Robin Edgar

An anonymous reader quotes a report from the New York Times: The defense lawyer minced no words as he addressed a room full of plastic-industry executives. Prepare for a wave of lawsuits with potentially “astronomical” costs. Speaking at a conference earlier this year, the lawyer, Brian Gross, said the coming litigation could “dwarf anything related Read more about Lawyers To Plastic Makers: Prepare For ‘Astronomical’ PFAS Lawsuits[…]

YouTube’s Crackdown on Adblockers Makes Videos Unwatchable – now skips to end of video

Posted on by Robin Edgar

YouTube has been at war with adblockers for quite some time now and has employed various tactics to keep users off those extensions. Its most recent defense strategy is to skip right to the end of the video you’re playing. If you try replaying it, it’ll do that again. If you tap anywhere on the Read more about YouTube’s Crackdown on Adblockers Makes Videos Unwatchable – now skips to end of video[…]

Samsung Requires Independent Repair Shops to Share Customer Data, Snitch on People and destroy phones Using Aftermarket Parts, Leaked Contract Shows

Posted on by Robin Edgar

In exchange for selling them repair parts, Samsung requires independent repair shops to give Samsung the name, contact information, phone identifier, and customer complaint details of everyone who gets their phone repaired at these shops, according to a contract obtained by 404 Media. Stunningly, it also requires these nominally independent shops to “immediately disassemble” any Read more about Samsung Requires Independent Repair Shops to Share Customer Data, Snitch on People and destroy phones Using Aftermarket Parts, Leaked Contract Shows[…]

Spotify to brick every Car Thing gadget it ever sold only 2 – 3 years ago

Posted on by Robin Edgar

Spotify’s brief attempt at being a hardware company wasn’t all that successful: the company stopped producing its Car Thing dashboard accessory less than a year after it went on sale to the public. And now, two years later, the device is about to be rendered completely inoperable. Customers who bought the Car Thing are receiving Read more about Spotify to brick every Car Thing gadget it ever sold only 2 – 3 years ago[…]

Crooks plant backdoor in software used by courtrooms around the world

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A software maker serving more than 10,000 courtrooms throughout the world hosted an application update containing a hidden backdoor that maintained persistent communication with a malicious website, researchers reported Thursday, in the latest episode of a supply-chain attack. The software, known as the JAVS Viewer 8, is a component of the JAVS Suite 8, an Read more about Crooks plant backdoor in software used by courtrooms around the world[…]

Bilingual Brain-Reading Implant Decodes Spanish and English

Posted on by Robin Edgar

For the first time, a brain implant has helped a bilingual person who is unable to articulate words to communicate in both of his languages. An artificial-intelligence (AI) system coupled to the brain implant decodes, in real time, what the individual is trying to say in either Spanish or English. The findings, published on 20 Read more about Bilingual Brain-Reading Implant Decodes Spanish and English[…]

Netflix app update for Windows PCs will ditch downloads and offline viewing but give you stuff you never wanted.

Posted on by Robin Edgar

In the past few weeks, users have received notifications on their Netflix Windows indicating that a new update is coming. The update will ship with many new features and quality-of-life improvements, including support for watching live events, improved streaming quality, compatibility with ad-supported plans, and more. Wait – who wants any of this stuff? What Read more about Netflix app update for Windows PCs will ditch downloads and offline viewing but give you stuff you never wanted.[…]

Adobe threatens to sue Nintendo emulator Delta for its look-alike logo

Posted on by Robin Edgar

Delta, an emulator that can play Nintendo games, had to change its logo after Adobe threatened legal action. You’d think it would face trouble from Nintendo, seeing as it has been going after emulators these days, but no. It’s Adobe who’s going after the developer, which told TechCrunch that it first received an email from Read more about Adobe threatens to sue Nintendo emulator Delta for its look-alike logo[…]

winamp interface

Winamp has announced that it is opening up its source code

Posted on by Robin Edgar

Winamp has announced that on 24 September 2024, the application’s source code will be open to developers worldwide. Winamp will open up its code for the player used on Windows, enabling the entire community to participate in its development. This is an invitation to global collaboration, where developers worldwide can contribute their expertise, ideas, and Read more about Winamp has announced that it is opening up its source code[…]

Germany’s Sovereign Tech Fund Now Supporting FFmpeg

Posted on by Robin Edgar

Following Germany’s Sovereign Tech Fund providing significant funding for GNOME, Rust Coreutils, PHP, a systemd bug bounty, and numerous other free software projects, the FFmpeg multimedia library is the latest beneficiary to this funding from the Germany government. The Sovereign Tech Fund notes that the FFmpeg project is receiving €157,580.00 for 2024 and 2025. An Read more about Germany’s Sovereign Tech Fund Now Supporting FFmpeg[…]

Top EU court says there is no right to online anonymity, because copyright is more important

Posted on by Robin Edgar

A year ago, Walled Culture wrote about an extremely important case that was being considered by the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU), the EU’s top court. The central question was whether the judges considered that copyright was more important than privacy. The bad news is that the CJEU has just decided that Read more about Top EU court says there is no right to online anonymity, because copyright is more important[…]

Gene therapy relieves back pain, repairs damaged disc in mice

Posted on by Robin Edgar

Disc-related back pain may one day meet its therapeutic match: gene therapy delivered by naturally derived nanocarriers that, a new study shows, repairs damaged discs in the spine and lowers pain symptoms in mice. Scientists engineered nanocarriers using mouse connective-tissue cells called fibroblasts as a model of skin cells and loaded them with genetic material Read more about Gene therapy relieves back pain, repairs damaged disc in mice[…]

Flood of Fake Science Forces Multiple Journal Closures

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Fake studies have flooded the publishers of top scientific journals, leading to thousands of retractions and millions of dollars in lost revenue. The biggest hit has come to Wiley, a 217-year-old publisher based in Hoboken, N.J., which Tuesday will announce that it is closing 19 journals, some of which were infected by large-scale research fraud. Read more about Flood of Fake Science Forces Multiple Journal Closures[…]

Patent troll hits Microsoft with $242 million US verdict in Cortana lawsuit

Posted on by Robin Edgar

Microsoft (MSFT.O) must pay patent owner IPA Technologies $242 million, a federal jury in Delaware said on Friday after determining that Microsoft’s Cortana virtual-assistant software infringed an IPA patent. The jury agreed with IPA after a week-long trial that Microsoft’s voice-recognition technology violates IPA’s patent rights in computer-communications software. IPA is a subsidiary of patent-licensing Read more about Patent troll hits Microsoft with $242 million US verdict in Cortana lawsuit[…]

iPhone users report deleted photos reappearing after update – turns out for Apple, delete doesn’t mean delete

Posted on by Robin Edgar

Some iPhone users are reportedly seeing photos they had previously deleted resurface on their devices ever since updating to the latest version of iOS. The user reports originate from Reddit, and it’s not just a couple of Apple users experiencing issues. By our count, 16 people who deleted their photos say they’ve come back. The Read more about iPhone users report deleted photos reappearing after update – turns out for Apple, delete doesn’t mean delete[…]

MIT students stole $25M in seconds by exploiting ETH blockchain bug, DOJ says

Posted on by Robin Edgar

Within approximately 12 seconds, two highly educated brothers allegedly stole $25 million by tampering with the ethereum blockchain in a never-before-seen cryptocurrency scheme, according to an indictment that the US Department of Justice unsealed Wednesday. In a DOJ press release, US Attorney Damian Williams said the scheme was so sophisticated that it “calls the very Read more about MIT students stole $25M in seconds by exploiting ETH blockchain bug, DOJ says[…]

Dell hack but who Dell didn’t think it was a big deal now includes customer phone numbers

Posted on by Robin Edgar

The person who claimed to have stolen the physical addresses of 49 million Dell customers appears to have taken more data from a different Dell portal, TechCrunch has learned. The newly compromised data includes names, phone numbers and email addresses of Dell customers. This personal data is contained in customer “service reports,” which also include Read more about Dell hack but who Dell didn’t think it was a big deal now includes customer phone numbers[…]

sonos music player being destroyed by an axe chopping it in half

Sonos App Redesign AMA – 769 angry questions, 19 corporate useless answers

Posted on by Robin Edgar

After the absolute shitshow and riots around the release of the new app, which missed core functionalities and broke systems, Sonos did participate in their promised Ask Me Anything. Kind of. Three Sonos employees apparently attended, but managed to barely respond to any of the questions – which were almost all overwhelmingly angry, disappointed and Read more about Sonos App Redesign AMA – 769 angry questions, 19 corporate useless answers[…]

Capacitor Breakthrough: 19-Fold Increase in Energy Storage Potential – could kill batteries

Posted on by Robin Edgar

A battery’s best friend is a capacitor. Powering everything from smartphones to electric vehicles, capacitors store energy from a battery in the form of an electrical charge and enable ultrafast charging and discharging. However, their Achilles’ heel has always been their limited energy storage efficiency. Now, Washington University in St. Louis researchers have unveiled a Read more about Capacitor Breakthrough: 19-Fold Increase in Energy Storage Potential – could kill batteries[…]

US Patent and Trademark Office confirms another leak of filers’ address data

Posted on by Robin Edgar

The federal government agency responsible for granting patents and trademarks is alerting thousands of filers whose private addresses were exposed following a second data spill in as many years. The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) said in an email to affected trademark applicants this week that their private domicile address — which can include Read more about US Patent and Trademark Office confirms another leak of filers’ address data[…]