Author: Robin Edgar

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

Ubisoft blames ‘technical error’ for showing pop-up ads in Assassin’s Creed

Posted on by Robin Edgar

Ubisoft is blaming a “technical error” for a fullscreen pop-up ad that appeared in Assassin’s Creed Odyssey this week. Reddit users say they spotted the pop-up on Xbox and PlayStation versions of the game, with an ad appearing just when you navigate to the map screen. “This is disgusting to experience while playing,” remarked one Read more about Ubisoft blames ‘technical error’ for showing pop-up ads in Assassin’s Creed[…]

A new way to predict ship-killing rogue waves, more importantly: to see how an AI finds its results

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[…] In a paper in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, a group of researchers led by Dion Häfner, a computer scientist at the University of Copenhagen, describe a clever way to make AI more understandable. They have managed to build a neural network, use it to solve a tricky problem, and then capture Read more about A new way to predict ship-killing rogue waves, more importantly: to see how an AI finds its results[…]

EU Parliament adopts Right to Repair law with broad support

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[…] At the Parliament’s plenary session in Strasbourg, the right to repair was adopted with 590 votes in favour. The legislative file, first presented by the EU Commission in March, aims to support the European Green Deal targets by increasing incentives for a circular economy, such as making repair a more attractive option than replacement Read more about EU Parliament adopts Right to Repair law with broad support[…]

Google reportedly struck a special with Spotify that let it skip Play Store fees revealed in Epic vs Google lawsuit

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Spotify struck a special deal with Google that lets it pay no commission to Google when people sign up for subscriptions using the music streaming service’s own payment system on Android, according to new testimony in the ongoing Epic v. Google trial first reported by The Verge. As part of the same deal, Spotify paid Read more about Google reportedly struck a special with Spotify that let it skip Play Store fees revealed in Epic vs Google lawsuit[…]

The AI startup behind Stable Diffusion is now testing generative video

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Stable Diffusion’s generative art can now be animated, developer Stability AI announced. The company has released a new product called Stable Video Diffusion into a research preview, allowing users to create video from a single image. “This state-of-the-art generative AI video model represents a significant step in our journey toward creating models for everyone of Read more about The AI startup behind Stable Diffusion is now testing generative video[…]

Commercial Flights Are Experiencing dozens of GPS Spoofing Attacks in the Middle East

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Commercial air crews are reporting something “unthinkable” in the skies above the Middle East: novel “spoofing” attacks have caused navigation systems to fail in dozens of incidents since September. In late September, multiple commercial flights near Iran went astray after navigation systems went blind. The planes first received spoofed GPS signals, meaning signals designed to Read more about Commercial Flights Are Experiencing dozens of GPS Spoofing Attacks in the Middle East[…]

US government pays AT&T to let cops search phone records without warrant

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A senator has alleged that American law enforcement agencies snoop on US citizens and residents, seemingly without regard for the privacy provisions of the Fourth Amendment, under a secret program called the Hemisphere Project that allows police to conduct searches of trillions of phone records. According to Senator Ron Wyden (D-OR), these searches “usually” happen Read more about US government pays AT&T to let cops search phone records without warrant[…]

Google admits it’s making YouTube worse for ad block and non-chrome (Edge, Firefox) users

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[…] Earlier this year, YouTube began interrupting videos for those using advert blockers with a pop-up encouraging them to either disable the offending extension or filter, or pay for YT’s ad-free premium tier. More recently, netizens have reported experiencing delays in playback when using non-Chrome browsers as well. Upon launching a video, Firefox users have Read more about Google admits it’s making YouTube worse for ad block and non-chrome (Edge, Firefox) users[…]

Aging (for men) – what nobody told you: pee slippers

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“The 100-year-old man set off in his pee-slippers (so called because men of an advanced age rarely pee farther than their shoes),” ― Jonas Jonasson, The 100-Year-Old Man Who Climbed Out the Window and Disappeared Guys, as you get older your bladder power goes down. This has some consequences – you don’t pee very far Read more about Aging (for men) – what nobody told you: pee slippers[…]

Sarah Silverman’s retarded AI Case Isn’t Going Very Well Either

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Just a few weeks ago Judge William Orrick massively trimmed back the first big lawsuit that was filed against generative AI companies for training their works on copyright-covered materials. Most of the case was dismissed, and what bits remained may not last much longer. And now, it appears that Judge Vince Chhabria (who has been Read more about Sarah Silverman’s retarded AI Case Isn’t Going Very Well Either[…]

“Make It Real” AI prototype wows UI devs by turning drawings into working software

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collaborative whiteboard app maker called “tldraw” made waves online by releasing a prototype of a feature called “Make it Real” that lets users draw an image of software and bring it to life using AI. The feature uses OpenAI’s GPT-4V API to visually interpret a vector drawing into functioning Tailwind CSS and JavaScript web code Read more about “Make It Real” AI prototype wows UI devs by turning drawings into working software[…]

The EU DMA will finally free Windows users from Bing (but not Edge) and allow 3rd parties into the widgets

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Microsoft will soon let Windows 11 users in the European Economic Area (EEA) disable its Bing web search, remove Microsoft Edge, and even add custom web search providers — including Google if it’s willing to build one — into its Windows Search interface. All of these Windows 11 changes are part of key tweaks that Read more about The EU DMA will finally free Windows users from Bing (but not Edge) and allow 3rd parties into the widgets[…]

Zimbra email vulnerability let hackers steal gov data – fix (and exploit) was easily visible on repository before updates

Posted on by Robin Edgar

Google’s Threat Analysis Group revealed on Thursday that it discovered and worked to help patch an email server flaw used to steal data from governments in Greece, Moldova, Tunisia, Vietnam and Pakistan. The exploit, known as CVE-2023-37580, targeted email server Zimbra Collaboration to pilfer email data, user credentials and authentication tokens from organizations. It started Read more about Zimbra email vulnerability let hackers steal gov data – fix (and exploit) was easily visible on repository before updates[…]

The Oura Ring Is a $300 Sleep Tracker Suddenly needs a Subscription

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[…] Now in its third iteration, the Oura Ring tracks and analyzes a host of metrics, including your heart-rate variability (HRV), blood oxygen rate, body temperature, and sleep duration. It uses this data to give you three daily scores, tallying the quality of your sleep, activity, and “readiness.” It can also determine your chronotype (your Read more about The Oura Ring Is a $300 Sleep Tracker Suddenly needs a Subscription[…]

The Netherlands wants EU measures against misleading “discounts” on altered prices

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From January 1, 2023, a seller may no longer increase the price of a product for a short period of time, then reduce the price and then present this ‘before’ price as an offer or a significant discount. Despite this tightening, consumers are still faced with misleading discounts, especially in the run-up to the holidays. Read more about The Netherlands wants EU measures against misleading “discounts” on altered prices[…]

Cracking group files SEC complaint on hacked company for failure to disclose breach

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affiliates of ransomware gang AlphV (aka BlackCat) claimed to have compromised digital lending firm MeridianLink – and reportedly filed an SEC complaint against the fintech firm for failing to disclose the intrusion to the US watchdog. First reported by DataBreaches, the break-in apparently happened on November 7. AlphaV’s operatives claimed they did not encrypt any Read more about Cracking group files SEC complaint on hacked company for failure to disclose breach[…]

The Epic Vs. Google Courtroom Battle Shows Google Routinely Hiding and Deleting Chats and Documents They Should (legally) Keep

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[…] back in 2020 Epic added an option to Fortnite on mobile that let players buy Fortnite’s in-game V-Bucks currency directly from the company at a discount, bypassing both Apple’s and Google’s app store fees. This violated Apple and Google policies Epic agreed to and quickly led to both companies removing Fortnite from their respective Read more about The Epic Vs. Google Courtroom Battle Shows Google Routinely Hiding and Deleting Chats and Documents They Should (legally) Keep[…]

Rivian update bricks infotainment – corp comms quickly and publicly on Reddit

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Hi All, We made an error with the 2023.42 OTA update – a fat finger where the wrong build with the wrong security certificates was sent out. We cancelled the campaign and we will restart it with the proper software that went through the different campaigns of beta testing. Service will be contacting impacted customers Read more about Rivian update bricks infotainment – corp comms quickly and publicly on Reddit[…]

Clorox CISO leaves after > 1/3rd billion spent on breach

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The Clorox Company’s chief security officer has left her job in the wake of a corporate network breach that cost the manufacturer hundreds of millions of dollars. […] Chau Banks, the chief information and data officer of the $7 billion biz, who reportedly penned the memo, will fill Bogac’s role as Clorox continues mopping up Read more about Clorox CISO leaves after > 1/3rd billion spent on breach[…]

The EU Commission’s Alleged CSAM Regulation ‘Experts’ giving them free reign to spy on everyone: can’t be found. OK then.

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Everyone who wants client-side scanning to be a thing insists it’s a good idea with no potential downsides. The only hangup, they insist, is tech companies’ unwillingness to implement it. And by “implement,” I mean — in far too many cases — introducing deliberate (and exploitable!) weaknesses in end-to-end encryption.End-to-end encryption only works if both Read more about The EU Commission’s Alleged CSAM Regulation ‘Experts’ giving them free reign to spy on everyone: can’t be found. OK then.[…]

WhatsApp chats backed up to Google Drive will soon take up storage space

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You may want to check your Google account storage situation if you back up your WhatsApp conversations to Drive on Android. In 2018, WhatsApp and Google announced that you could save your WhatsApp chat history to Drive without it counting towards your storage quota. But starting in December 2023, backing up the messaging app to Read more about WhatsApp chats backed up to Google Drive will soon take up storage space[…]

Researchers printed a robotic hand with bones, ligaments and tendons for the first time

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Researchers at the Zurich-based ETH public university, along with a US-based startup called Inkbit, have done the impossible. They’ve printed a robot hand complete with bones, ligaments and tendons for the very first time, representing a major leap forward in 3D printing technology. It’s worth noting that the various parts of the hand were printed Read more about Researchers printed a robotic hand with bones, ligaments and tendons for the first time[…]

Google is testing community-sourced notes for search results

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Google is experimenting with a feature that would allow people to add their own notes to search results for anyone to see. In theory, this would make results more helpful, providing a bit of human perspective — like feedback on recipe links or tips relating to travel queries — so people can better find the Read more about Google is testing community-sourced notes for search results[…]

Researchers use magnetic fields for non-invasive blood glucose monitoring

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Synex Medical, a Toronto-based biotech research firm backed by Sam Altman (the CEO of OpenAI), has developed a tool that can measure your blood glucose levels without a finger prick. It uses a combination of low-field magnets and low-frequency radio waves to directly measure blood sugar levels non-invasively when a user inserts a finger into Read more about Researchers use magnetic fields for non-invasive blood glucose monitoring[…]

Three thousand years’ worth of carbon monoxide records show positive impact of global intervention in the 1980s

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An international team of scientists has reconstructed a historic record of the atmospheric trace gas carbon monoxide by measuring air in polar ice and air collected at an Antarctic research station.   The team, led by the French National Centre for Scientific Research (CNRS) and Australia’s national science agency, CSIRO, assembled the first complete record Read more about Three thousand years’ worth of carbon monoxide records show positive impact of global intervention in the 1980s[…]