The Linkielist

Linking ideas with the world

Popular blockchains can be centralised fairly easily | Trail of Bits study funded by DARPA

Posted on by Robin Edgar

[…]Over the past year, Trail of Bits was engaged by the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) to examine the fundamental properties of blockchains and the cybersecurity risks associated with them. DARPA wanted to understand those security assumptions and determine to what degree blockchains are actually decentralized. […] The report also contains links to the Read more about Popular blockchains can be centralised fairly easily | Trail of Bits study funded by DARPA[…]

How to Search Reddit and Actually Find What You Want using keywords

Posted on by Robin Edgar

These keywords allow you to tell Reddit to search for only specific things, rather than the entirety of Reddit. These aren’t menu-based, meaning you’ll need to know which terms to enter into the search bar to get the results you want. There are eight in total, and you can use them in the following ways: Read more about How to Search Reddit and Actually Find What You Want using keywords[…]

Miners flood market with GPUs they no longer need as cryptocurrencies crash

Posted on by Robin Edgar

As the cryptocurrency market currently goes through one of its worst nosedives in recent years, miners are trying to get rid of their mining hardware. Due to the crashing prices of popular crypto coins, numerous Chinese miners and e-cafes are flooding the market with graphics cards they no longer need. Miners, e-cafes, and scalpers are Read more about Miners flood market with GPUs they no longer need as cryptocurrencies crash[…]

Spain, Austria not convinced location data is personal

Posted on by Robin Edgar

[…] EU privacy group NOYB (None of your business), set up by privacy warrior Max “Angry Austrian” Schrems, said on Tuesday it appealed a decision of the Spanish Data Protection Authority (AEPD) to support Virgin Telco’s refusal to provide the location data it has stored about a customer. In Spain, according to NOYB, the government Read more about Spain, Austria not convinced location data is personal[…]

The 10 Best Illusions of the Year 2021

Posted on by Robin Edgar

the finalists of this year’s Best Illusion of the Year Contest aren’t going to leave your brain feeling any less raddled, confused, or exhausted as we quickly approach the new year. As they do every year, a group of talented neurologists, visual scientists, ophthalmologists, and artists have come together to create and celebrate the best Read more about The 10 Best Illusions of the Year 2021[…]

Scientists develop antimicrobial, plant-based food wrap designed to replace plastic

Posted on by Robin Edgar

Aiming to produce environmentally friendly alternatives to plastic food wrap and containers, a Rutgers scientist has developed a biodegradable, plant-based coating that can be sprayed on foods, guarding against pathogenic and spoilage microorganisms and transportation damage. The scalable process could potentially reduce the adverse environmental impact of plastic food packaging as well as protect human Read more about Scientists develop antimicrobial, plant-based food wrap designed to replace plastic[…]

Virpil VPC Desk Mount linear rail adapter for MongoosT / WarBRD / Stream Deck by SciMonster – Thingiverse

Posted on by Robin Edgar

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VWXf6EsfZ4c&t=62s Mount your Virpil Throttle and Stick to linear rails so you can slide them along your desk. This allows you to move your HOTAS aside when you use the computer for other work. When flying your aircraft or spaceship, a spring-loaded locking meachanism holds your HOTAS securely in place. The files are designed for Read more about Virpil VPC Desk Mount linear rail adapter for MongoosT / WarBRD / Stream Deck by SciMonster – Thingiverse[…]

Attacking ML systems by changing  the order of the training data

Posted on by Robin Edgar

Machine learning is vulnerable to a wide variety of attacks. It is now well understood that by changing the underlying data distribution, an adversary can poison the model trained with it or introduce backdoors. In this paper we present a novel class of training-time attacks that require no changes to the underlying dataset or model Read more about Attacking ML systems by changing  the order of the training data[…]

Chinese Officials Are Weaponizing COVID Health Tracker to Block Protests

Posted on by Robin Edgar

Chinese bank depositors planning a protest about their frozen funds saw their health code mysteriously turn red and were stopped from traveling to the site of a rally, confirming fears that China’s vast COVID-tracking system could be weaponized as a powerful tool to stifle dissent. A red health code designated the would-be protesters as suspected Read more about Chinese Officials Are Weaponizing COVID Health Tracker to Block Protests[…]

Facebook and Anti-Abortion Clinics Are Collecting Highly Sensitive Info on Would-Be Patients

Posted on by Robin Edgar

Facebook is collecting ultra-sensitive personal data about abortion seekers and enabling anti-abortion organizations to use that data as a tool to target and influence people online, in violation of its own policies and promises. In the wake of a leaked Supreme Court opinion signaling the likely end of nationwide abortion protections, privacy experts are sounding Read more about Facebook and Anti-Abortion Clinics Are Collecting Highly Sensitive Info on Would-Be Patients[…]

Telegram criticizes Apple for subpar web app features on iOS, crippling app

Posted on by Robin Edgar

A week after confirming plans for Telegram Premium, the messaging platform’s CEO, Pavel Durov, is again criticizing Apple’s approach to its Safari browser for stifling the efforts of web developers. Durov would very much like his web-based messaging platform, Telegram Web, to be delivered as a web app rather than native, but is prevented from Read more about Telegram criticizes Apple for subpar web app features on iOS, crippling app[…]

Samsung accused of cheating on hardware benchmarks – again

Posted on by Robin Edgar

[…] The South Korean titan was said to have unfairly goosed Galaxy Note 3 phone benchmarks in 2013, and faced with similar allegations about the Galaxy S4 in 2018 settled that matter for $13.4 million. This time Samsung has allegedly fudged the results for its televisions, specifically the S95B QD-OLED and QN95B Neo OLED LCD Read more about Samsung accused of cheating on hardware benchmarks – again[…]

Time to throw out those older, vulnerable Cisco SMB routers – they’re not gonna fix critical bugs for you

Posted on by Robin Edgar

[…]Cisco has just released fixes for seven flaws, two of which are not great. First on the priority list should be a critical vulnerability in its enterprise security appliances, and the second concerns another critical bug in some of its outdated small business routers that it’s not going to fix. In other words, junk your Read more about Time to throw out those older, vulnerable Cisco SMB routers – they’re not gonna fix critical bugs for you[…]

Julian Assange Extradition to US Approved by UK Government

Posted on by Robin Edgar

Julian Assange—founder of the whistleblowing website WikiLeaks—can now be extradited from the United Kingdom to the United States, where he will face charges of espionage. In April, a London court filed a formal extradition order for Assange, and the UK Home Secretary approved the order today, meaning that Assange can be extradited back to the Read more about Julian Assange Extradition to US Approved by UK Government[…]

The Earth moves far under our feet: A new study shows that the inner core oscillates

Posted on by Robin Edgar

USC scientists have found evidence that the Earth’s inner core oscillates, contradicting previously accepted models that suggested it consistently rotates at a faster rate than the planet’s surface. Their study, published today in Science Advances, shows that the inner core changed direction in the six-year period from 1969–74, according to the analysis of seismic data. Read more about The Earth moves far under our feet: A new study shows that the inner core oscillates[…]

US Copyright Office sued for denying AI model authorship

Posted on by Robin Edgar

The US Copyright Office and its director Shira Perlmutter have been sued for rejecting one man’s request to register an AI model as the author of an image generated by the software. You guessed correct: Stephen Thaler is back. He said the digital artwork, depicting railway tracks and a tunnel in a wall surrounded by Read more about US Copyright Office sued for denying AI model authorship[…]

Scientists covered a robot finger in living human skin

Posted on by Robin Edgar

[…] At the moment, robots are sometimes coated in silicone rubber to give them a fleshy appearance, but the rubber lacks the texture of human skin, he says. To make more realistic-looking skin, Takeuchi and his colleagues bathed a plastic robot finger in a soup of collagen and human skin cells called fibroblasts for three Read more about Scientists covered a robot finger in living human skin[…]

Planting Undetectable Backdoors in Machine Learning Models

Posted on by Robin Edgar

We show how a malicious learner can plant an undetectable backdoor into a classifier. On the surface, such a backdoored classifier behaves normally, but in reality, the learner maintains a mechanism for changing the classification of any input, with only a slight perturbation. Importantly, without the appropriate “backdoor key”, the mechanism is hidden and cannot Read more about Planting Undetectable Backdoors in Machine Learning Models[…]

Testing firm Cignpost can profit from sale of Covid swabs with customer DNA

Posted on by Robin Edgar

A large Covid-19 testing provider is being investigated by the UK’s data privacy watchdog over its plans to sell swabs containing customers’ DNA for medical research. Cignpost Diagnostics, a government-approved supplier trading as ExpressTest, said it intended to analyse the samples to “learn more about human health”, to develop drugs and products or to sell Read more about Testing firm Cignpost can profit from sale of Covid swabs with customer DNA[…]

Find you: an airtag which Apple can’t find in unwanted tracking

Posted on by Robin Edgar

[…] In one exemplary stalking case, a fashion and fitness model discovered an AirTag in her coat pocket after having received a tracking warning notification from her iPhone. Other times, AirTags were placed in expensive cars or motorbikes to track them from parking spots to their owner’s home, where they were then stolen. On February Read more about Find you: an airtag which Apple can’t find in unwanted tracking[…]

Survey of Alternative Displays

Posted on by Robin Edgar

[Blair Nearl] has been working on an information database for artists and hackers – a collection of non-conventional display technologies available to us. We’ve covered this repository before, six years ago – since then, it’s moved to a more suitable platform, almost doubled in size, and currently covers over 40+ display technology types and related Read more about Survey of Alternative Displays[…]

Some of Canon’s wireless Pixma printers are stuck in reboot loops

Posted on by Robin Edgar

Over the last day or two, there have been a growing number of reports by people who own certain Canon Pixma printers that the devices either won’t turn on at all or, once turned on, get stuck in a reboot loop, cycling on and off as long as they’re plugged in. Verge reader Jamie pointed Read more about Some of Canon’s wireless Pixma printers are stuck in reboot loops[…]

What Is Pegasus Spyware? Why is it important? Infographic

Posted on by Robin Edgar

If you’ve been following the latest news on government surveillance scandals around the world, the name Pegasus may have popped up in your feed. It’s a complex story, so we’ve put together an infographic explainer that covers all the basics. How does Pegasus work? Check. Which world leaders were targeted? Check. Astonishing subscription costs? Check. Read more about What Is Pegasus Spyware? Why is it important? Infographic[…]

Fan’s Rare Recordings Of Lost 1963 Beatles’ Performances Can’t Be Heard, Because … Copyright

Posted on by Robin Edgar

There’s a story in the Daily Mail that underlines why it is important for people to make copies. It concerns the re-surfacing of rare recordings of the Beatles: In the summer of 1963, the BBC began a radio series called Pop Go The Beatles which went out at 5pm on Tuesdays on the Light Programme. Each Read more about Fan’s Rare Recordings Of Lost 1963 Beatles’ Performances Can’t Be Heard, Because … Copyright[…]