Miscellaneous Tech News
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Smart doorbells 'easy target for hackers' study finds
Major security flaws in popular smart doorbells are putting consumers at risk of being targeted by hackers inside their homes, according to Which.
The consumer group says devices being sold on marketplaces such as Amazon and eBay, could easily be hacked or switched off by criminals. It is asking the government for new legislation to safeguard consumers. Amazon has removed at least seven product listings in response to the findings. The watchdog tested 11 devices which were purchased from popular online marketplaces in the UK. Brands included Qihoo, Ctronics and Victure. It found that among the most common flaws were weak password policies, and a lack of data encryption. Two of the devices in the test could be manipulated to steal network passwords and then hack other smart devices within the home. -
Ubiquiti EdgeMax firmware 2.0.9 released and increases non-offloaded performance.
https://dl.ubnt.com/firmwares/edgemax/v2.0.9/changenotes-v2.0.9.txt
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Director Tristram Shapeero apologises to Lukas Gage after unmuted comments
Director Tristram Shapeero has apologised after unwittingly commenting on an actor's "tiny apartment" without realising he could be heard.
Euphoria actor Lukas Gage was auditioning for a role via Zoom earlier this year when an unmuted Shapeero began making comments about his home. Gage uploaded the video of the encounter to Twitter this week. Shapeero apologised to Gage at the time and has now written an open letter to him about his "unacceptable" remarks. In the video, which includes bad language and was posted on Twitter by Gage on Saturday, the actor can be seen in his apartment about to audition on Zoom for a screen role. -
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@mlnews said in Miscellaneous Tech News:
Director Tristram Shapeero apologises to Lukas Gage after unmuted comments
Director Tristram Shapeero has apologised after unwittingly commenting on an actor's "tiny apartment" without realising he could be heard.
Euphoria actor Lukas Gage was auditioning for a role via Zoom earlier this year when an unmuted Shapeero began making comments about his home. Gage uploaded the video of the encounter to Twitter this week. Shapeero apologised to Gage at the time and has now written an open letter to him about his "unacceptable" remarks. In the video, which includes bad language and was posted on Twitter by Gage on Saturday, the actor can be seen in his apartment about to audition on Zoom for a screen role.Sigh, cancel culture is killing us.. and while this isn't specifically cancel blah blah blah.. People have opinions.. get over it.
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Why don't Facebook and Apple like each other?
Big corporate rivalries, Coca-Cola and Pepsi, Boeing and Airbus, McDonald's and Burger King, tend to have one thing in common - competition for the same business. That's why Facebook and Apple's feud is so intriguing.
They're both big technology companies, and that's where the similarities end. Almost all of Facebook's revenue is from advertising - but it provides only a small fraction of Apple's, which comes mostly from devices and its App Store. The two companies don't really compete with each other - they just don't like each other. For years, Apple's Tim Cook has said Facebook treats its users as a product - to make money from advertising - and plays fast and loose with their privacy. Mark Zuckerberg, meanwhile, says Apple's products are expensive and it has ulterior motives for criticising Facebook. -
@black3dynamite said in Miscellaneous Tech News:
https://www.omgubuntu.co.uk/2020/11/vivaldi-browser-integrated-email-client
Neat, but pretty late to this game. Who uses IMAP to access email any longer? The idea of pulling email down to a client is pretty antiquated.
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@mlnews said in Miscellaneous Tech News:
Why don't Facebook and Apple like each other?
Big corporate rivalries, Coca-Cola and Pepsi, Boeing and Airbus, McDonald's and Burger King, tend to have one thing in common - competition for the same business. That's why Facebook and Apple's feud is so intriguing.
They're both big technology companies, and that's where the similarities end. Almost all of Facebook's revenue is from advertising - but it provides only a small fraction of Apple's, which comes mostly from devices and its App Store. The two companies don't really compete with each other - they just don't like each other. For years, Apple's Tim Cook has said Facebook treats its users as a product - to make money from advertising - and plays fast and loose with their privacy. Mark Zuckerberg, meanwhile, says Apple's products are expensive and it has ulterior motives for criticising Facebook.Maybe because, by and large, they BOTH make bad products and it's nothing personal just.... the average person doesn't like either of these companies so that the two don't like each other should be... expected.
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@scottalanmiller said in Miscellaneous Tech News:
@black3dynamite said in Miscellaneous Tech News:
https://www.omgubuntu.co.uk/2020/11/vivaldi-browser-integrated-email-client
Neat, but pretty late to this game. Who uses IMAP to access email any longer? The idea of pulling email down to a client is pretty antiquated.
There are still those old school Opera fans that miss the built-in email client. I think Mozilla SeaMonkey is the only one that includes a mail client builtin.
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Your data and how it is used to gain your vote
How much do political parties know about you - and how is it used to try to sway your vote?
The Cambridge Analytica scandal threw light on how the Facebook data of millions was harvested and turned into a messaging tool. The revelations were criticised far and wide by politicians of all stripes. But now, a report from the UK's Information Commissioner's Office (ICO) puts the spotlight on the relationship between data brokers and the politicians here. Even limited information can be used in surprising ways, the ICO report found. For example, buying someone's name can lead to making guesses about their income, number of children and ethnicity - which is then used to tailor a political message for them. The report suggests that the Conservative Party is doing just that, using so-called "onomastic data": information derived from the study of people's names which could identify their ethnic origin or religion. -
Linus Torvalds doubts Linux will get ported to Apple M1 hardware
"I'd absolutely love to have [an M1 laptop] if it just ran Linux," Torvalds said.
In a recent post on the Real World Technologies forum—one of the few public internet venues Linux founder Linus Torvalds is known to regularly visit—a user named Paul asked Torvalds, "What do you think of the new Apple laptop?" "I'd absolutely love to have one, if it just ran Linux," Torvalds replied. "I've been waiting for an ARM laptop that can run Linux for a long time. The new [Macbook] Air would be almost perfect, except for the OS." Torvalds, of course, can already have an ARM based Linux laptop if he wants one—for example, the Pinebook Pro. The unspoken part here is that he'd like a high-performance ARM based laptop, rather than a budget-friendly but extremely performance constrained design such as one finds in the Pinebook Pro, the Raspberry Pi, or a legion of other inexpensive gadgets. -
Facebook News will pay UK outlets for content in 2021
Facebook will begin paying UK news publishers for some articles with the launch of Facebook News in January.
The feature adds a dedicated news tab to the Facebook app, and has already launched in the United States. Facebook said it will "pay publishers for content that is not already on the platform" and prioritise original reporting. It comes after years of tension between Facebook and news publishers, who have often accused it of "stealing" content. But hundreds of UK news outlets are already signed up to deals for the new feature, Facebook said. They include publishers such as Hearst (Cosmopolitan, Elle, Esquire); the Guardian Media group; regional newspaper giant JPI Media; and the Midland News Association. Facebook said it expects more publishers to join after the launch. -
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Facebook Oversight Board reveals its first cases
Facebook's Oversight Board has chosen its first batch of cases to review.
All involve decisions originally made by the platform to remove user content. They include images of female breasts in a post about breast cancer, and an image of a dead child alongside text about whether retaliation was justified against China for its treatment of Uighur Muslims. The board said Facebook users had submitted 20,000 suggested incidents for review since October 2020. The arbitration body is inviting the public to comment on the cases - which have all been anonymised - over the next seven days. -
Amazon's Panorama box lets firms check if staff follow coronavirus rules
Amazon plans to sell companies a way to detect when staff are not wearing face masks or socially distancing.
Beyond the pandemic, the system could also be used to track compliance of other workplace rules or to monitor the public - for example, to check the number of customers queuing in a store. It involves retrofitting a box to existing security cameras that can then draw on off-the-shelf AI apps. But privacy campaigners have raised concerns.Remote working has already led to an increase in the use of software that checks up on employees, but Amazon's new solution is focused on tracking people and products in factories, shops and other traditional workplaces.
