Author: Robin Edgar

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

The Alternative to Web Scraping. The “lazy” programmer’s guide to… | by Doug Guthrie

Posted on by Robin Edgar

One of the better sites for financial data is Yahoo Finance. This makes it a prime target for web scraping by finance enthusiasts. There are nearly daily questions on StackOverflow that reference some sort of data retrieval (oftentimes through web scraping) from Yahoo Finance. Web Scraping Problem #1 trying to test a code that scrap Read more about The Alternative to Web Scraping. The “lazy” programmer’s guide to… | by Doug Guthrie[…]

Researchers create strong synthetic enamel similar to natural tooth covering

Posted on by Robin Edgar

A team of researchers from Beihang University, the Peking University School and Hospital of Stomatology and the Michigan Institute of Translational Nanotechnology has developed a synthetic enamel with properties similar to natural tooth enamel. In their paper published in the journal Science, the group describes their enamel and how well it compared to natural enamel Read more about Researchers create strong synthetic enamel similar to natural tooth covering[…]

Thousands of Planes Are Flying Empty and No One Can Stop Them

Posted on by Robin Edgar

In December 2021, 27,591 aircraft took off or landed at Frankfurt airport—890 every day. But this winter, many of them weren’t carrying any passengers at all. Lufthansa, Germany’s national airline, which is based in Frankfurt, has admitted to running 21,000 empty flights this winter, using its own planes and those of its Belgian subsidiary, Brussels Read more about Thousands of Planes Are Flying Empty and No One Can Stop Them[…]

Developers react to Apples 27% commission with astonishment, anger

Posted on by Robin Edgar

Developers reacted with astonishment and anger at Apple’s 27% commission policy as a minimal form of compliance with a new antitrust law regarding the App Store. One leading developer described the move as ‘vile,’ while another said Apple is deliberately ensuring it would cost developers more to opt-out of Apple’s payment system than it would Read more about Developers react to Apples 27% commission with astonishment, anger[…]

Suicide Hotline Collected, Monetized The Data Of Desperate People, Because Of Course It Did

Posted on by Robin Edgar

Crisis Text Line, one of the nation’s largest nonprofit support options for the suicidal, is in some hot water. A Politico report last week highlighted how the company has been caught collecting and monetizing the data of callers… to create and market customer service software. More specifically, Crisis Text Line says it “anonymizes” some user Read more about Suicide Hotline Collected, Monetized The Data Of Desperate People, Because Of Course It Did[…]

North Korea Hacked Him. So One Guy Took Down Its Internet

Posted on by Robin Edgar

For the past two weeks, observers of North Korea’s strange and tightly restricted corner of the internet began to notice that the country seemed to be dealing with some serious connectivity problems. On several different days, practically all of its websites—the notoriously isolated nation only has a few dozen—intermittently dropped offline en masse, from the Read more about North Korea Hacked Him. So One Guy Took Down Its Internet[…]

Regulators find Europe’s ad-tech industry acted unlawfully, violates GDPR

Posted on by Robin Edgar

After a years-long process, data protection officials across the European Union have ruled that Europe’s ad tech industry has been operating unlawfully. The decision, handed down by Belgium’s APD (.PDF) and agreed by regulators across the EU, found that the system underpinning the industry violated a number of principles of the General Data Protection Regulations Read more about Regulators find Europe’s ad-tech industry acted unlawfully, violates GDPR[…]

Blockchain platform Wormhole says it’s retrieved the $324M stolen by hackers

Posted on by Robin Edgar

[…] Hackers stole more than $324 million in cryptocurrency from Wormhole, the developers behind the popular blockchain bridge confirmed Wednesday. The platform provides a connection that allows for the transfer of cryptocurrency between different decentralized-finance blockchain networks. Wormhole said in a series of tweets Wednesday afternoon that thieves made off with 120,000 wETH, or wrapped Read more about Blockchain platform Wormhole says it’s retrieved the $324M stolen by hackers[…]

Google adds new opt out tracking for Workspace Customers

Posted on by Robin Edgar

[…] according to a new FAQ posted on Google’s Workplace administrator forum. At the end of that month, the company will be adding a new feature—“Workspace search history”—that can continue to track these customers, even if they, or their admins, turn activity tracking off. The worst part? Unlike Google’s activity trackers that are politely defaulted Read more about Google adds new opt out tracking for Workspace Customers[…]

Intel’s $1.2bn EU antitrust fine cancelled by court 12 years after Intel didn’t pay up

Posted on by Robin Edgar

Intel Corporation no longer has to pay a €1.06bn ($1.2bn, £890m) fine imposed by the European Commission (EC) in 2009 for abusing its dominance of the chip market. On Wednesday, the General Court of the European Union annulled the EC antitrust penalty [PDF] after previously upholding it in 2014 [PDF]. After rival AMD complained in Read more about Intel’s $1.2bn EU antitrust fine cancelled by court 12 years after Intel didn’t pay up[…]

LG Announces New Ad Targeting Features for TVs – wait, wtf, I bought my TV, not a service!

Posted on by Robin Edgar

[… ] there are plenty of cases where you throw down hundreds of dollars for a piece of hardware and then you end up being the product anyway. Case in point: TVs. On Wednesday, the television giant LG announced a new offering to advertisers that promises to be able to reach the company’s millions of Read more about LG Announces New Ad Targeting Features for TVs – wait, wtf, I bought my TV, not a service![…]

More Than 80% of NFTs Created for Free on OpenSea Are Fraud or Spam, Company Says

Posted on by Robin Edgar

[…] OpenSea has revealed just how much of the NFT activity on its platform is defined by fakery and theft, and it’s a lot. In fact, according to the company, nearly all of the NFTs created for free on its platform are either spam or plagiarized. The revelation began with some drama. On Thursday, popular Read more about More Than 80% of NFTs Created for Free on OpenSea Are Fraud or Spam, Company Says[…]

Finnish diplomats were targeted by NSO Pegasus spyware

Posted on by Robin Edgar

Finland’s government says the mobile devices of its diplomats have been hacked using Pegasus spyware. The Finnish foreign ministry stated on Friday that some of its officials abroad had been targeted by the sophisticated software. “The highly sophisticated malware has infected users’ Apple or Android telephones without their noticing and without any action from the Read more about Finnish diplomats were targeted by NSO Pegasus spyware[…]

A Chinese Satellite Just Grappled Another And Pulled It Out Of Orbit

Posted on by Robin Edgar

Chinese satellite was observed grabbing another satellite and pulling it out of its normal geosynchronous orbit and into a “super-graveyard drift orbit.” The maneuver raises questions about the potential applications of these types of satellites designed to maneuver close to other satellites for inspection or manipulation and adds to growing concerns about China’s space program Read more about A Chinese Satellite Just Grappled Another And Pulled It Out Of Orbit[…]

Stackable artificial leaf uses less power than lightbulb to capture 100 times more carbon than other systems

Posted on by Robin Edgar

Engineers at the University of Illinois Chicago have built a cost-effective artificial leaf that can capture carbon dioxide at rates 100 times better than current systems. Unlike other carbon capture systems, which work in labs with pure carbon dioxide from pressurized tanks, this artificial leaf works in the real world. It captures carbon dioxide from Read more about Stackable artificial leaf uses less power than lightbulb to capture 100 times more carbon than other systems[…]

polkit has been allowing root for 12+ years

Posted on by Robin Edgar

[…]Polkit, previously known as PolicyKit, is a tool for setting up policies governing how unprivileged processes interact with privileged ones. The vulnerability resides within polkit’s pkexec, a SUID-root program that’s installed by default on all major Linux distributions. Designated CVE-2021-4034, the vulnerability has been given a CVSS score of 7.8. Bharat Jogi, director of vulnerability Read more about polkit has been allowing root for 12+ years[…]

Google Drive flags single-digit files over copyright

Posted on by Robin Edgar

A funny thing happened on Google Drive overnight. Seemingly innocuous files started being flagged as violating the search behemoth’s terms of service over copyright infringement. Dr Emily Dolson, assistant professor at Michigan State University, was one of those affected after she attempted to upload a file containing a single digit, “1”. Uh, @googledrive, are you Read more about Google Drive flags single-digit files over copyright[…]

Flying car wins airworthiness certification – BBC News

Posted on by Robin Edgar

A flying car capable of hitting speeds over 100mph (160kmh) and altitudes above 8,000ft (2,500m) has been issued with a certificate of airworthiness by the Slovak Transport Authority. The hybrid car-aircraft, AirCar, is equipped with a BMW engine and runs on regular petrol-pump fuel. It takes two minutes and 15 seconds to transform from car Read more about Flying car wins airworthiness certification – BBC News[…]

How to Download Everything Amazon Knows About You (It’s a Lot)

Posted on by Robin Edgar

[…]To be clear, data collection is far from an Amazon-specific problem; it’s pretty much par for the course when it comes to tech companies. Even Apple, a company vocal about user privacy, has faced criticism in the past for recording Siri interactions and sharing them with third-party contractors. The issue with Amazon, however, is the Read more about How to Download Everything Amazon Knows About You (It’s a Lot)[…]

MoonBounce Malware Hides In Your BIOS Chip, Persists After Drive Formats

Posted on by Robin Edgar

A new type of malware takes a decidedly more stealthy and hard-to-remove path into your OS — it hides in your BIOS chip and thus remains even after you reinstall your OS or format your hard drive. Kaspersky has observed the growth of Unified Extensible Firmware Interface (UEFI) firmware malware threats since 2019, with most Read more about MoonBounce Malware Hides In Your BIOS Chip, Persists After Drive Formats[…]

‘Dark Souls 3’ security hole lets attackers hijack your PC

Posted on by Robin Edgar

You might not want to play a Dark Souls game online for a while — not that you necessarily can. As Dexerto and The Verge report, attackers have discovered a security exploit in Dark Souls 3 (and potentially Elden Ring) for Windows that lets attackers remotely execute control and effectively hijack your PC. Streamers like Read more about ‘Dark Souls 3’ security hole lets attackers hijack your PC[…]

The IEA wants to make their data available to the public – now it is on governments of the world’s rich countries to make this happen

Posted on by Robin Edgar

To tackle climate change we need good data. This data exists; it is published by the International Energy Agency (IEA). But despite being an institution that is largely publicly funded, most IEA data is locked behind paywalls. […] In 2020 we launched a campaign to unlock this data; we started on Twitter (one example), last Read more about The IEA wants to make their data available to the public – now it is on governments of the world’s rich countries to make this happen[…]