Amazon Hardware Sale Brings Big Discounts On Echo Smart Speakers, Fire TVs And More

Amazon Hardware Sale Brings Big Discounts On Echo Smart Speakers, Fire TVs And More
As we close out the year 2020, discounts are starting to pile up on Amazon-branded hardware for those that want to expand their “smart home” using their new acquired Christmas cash. The discounts abound on a wide variety of hardware from Echo smart speakers, to Fire TV Edition televisions to wireless ear buds, so sit back and take a look at

Source: Hot Hardware – Amazon Hardware Sale Brings Big Discounts On Echo Smart Speakers, Fire TVs And More

A Spotify loophole allowed people to upload bootleg remixes as podcasts

When most people want to find a reworking of their favorite songs, they usually turn to platforms like SoundCloud and YouTube. The fact almost anyone can upload a track to those services has allowed songs like ‘Plastic Love’ and ‘Dead to Me’ to find…

Source: Engadget – A Spotify loophole allowed people to upload bootleg remixes as podcasts

Toyota's Robocars Will Wash Themselves Because We Can't Be Trusted

On Christmas Eve, the United States Patent and Trademark Office publicly released an application submitted by Toyota for a “car wash judgement system.” It’s not a patent application for a system that judges how well you washed your car, nor a system that washes your car while judging you and calling you a bad owner…

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Source: Gizmodo – Toyota’s Robocars Will Wash Themselves Because We Can’t Be Trusted

Eager Retailer Jumps The Gun With Mobile GeForce RTX 30 Series Laptop Preorders

Eager Retailer Jumps The Gun With Mobile GeForce RTX 30 Series Laptop Preorders
It is incredibly difficult to find a GeForce RTX 30 series card in stock from a seller that has not jacked up the price, but eventually things will settle down. Hopefully sooner than later. Also happening presumably sooner than later—NVIDIA will launch Ampere in mobile form for laptops. As we wait, a retailer in Europe has already posted preorder

Source: Hot Hardware – Eager Retailer Jumps The Gun With Mobile GeForce RTX 30 Series Laptop Preorders

The Apps That Helped Us Manage 2020

The stress and upheaval of 2020 has sent all of us searching for different ways to cope. And while there is merit in seeking therapy, or striving to get outside more, or taking up a new hobby, many of have also turned to our devices to help ease the pressure.

While recognizing the enormous privilege involved in…

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Source: LifeHacker – The Apps That Helped Us Manage 2020

A Redditor is squeezing entire movies onto a single floppy disk

Sure, you can have an 8K TV displaying incredible visuals and a top-of-the-line sound system pumping out crystal-clear 22.2 channel audio. But why bother when you can fit an entire movie onto a floppy disk and use a custom VCR to play it?A Redditor n…

Source: Engadget – A Redditor is squeezing entire movies onto a single floppy disk

Superman & Lois' First Trailer Pulls the Super Family Back Together

After helping to save the world in the CW’s many Crisis events, Tyler Hoechilin’s Clark Kent and Elizabeth Tulloch’s Lois Lane will team up to tackle the challenge of parenting in Superman & Lois, Todd Helbing and Greg Berlanti’s latest addition to the already-sprawling Arrowverse of superhero shows.

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Source: io9 – Superman & Lois’ First Trailer Pulls the Super Family Back Together

Apple's Longtime Supplier Accused of Using Forced Labor in China

One of the oldest and most well-known iPhone suppliers has been accused of using forced Muslim labor in its factories, according to documents uncovered by a human rights group, adding new scrutiny to Apple’s human rights record in China. From a report: The documents, discovered by the Tech Transparency Project and shared exclusively with The Washington Post, detail how thousands of Uighur workers from the predominantly Muslim region of Xinjiang were sent to work for Lens Technology. Lens also supplies Amazon and Tesla, according to its annual report. Lens Technology is one of at least five companies connected to Apple’s supply chain that have now been linked to alleged forced labor from the Xinjiang region, according to human rights groups. Lens Technology stands out from other Apple component suppliers because of its high-profile founder and long, well-documented history going back to the early days of the iPhone.

Read more of this story at Slashdot.



Source: Slashdot – Apple’s Longtime Supplier Accused of Using Forced Labor in China

Treasury Department Warns of Increase in Covid-19 Vaccine-Related Fraud and Cybercrime

In a notice on Wednesday, the U.S. Treasury Department warned of an uptick in cyberattacks and scams linked to covid-19 vaccines, saying ransomware poses a particular threat as criminals search for ways to exploit the ongoing public health crisis.

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Source: Gizmodo – Treasury Department Warns of Increase in Covid-19 Vaccine-Related Fraud and Cybercrime

Should You Eat Ramen on Toast?

I don’t know when it happened, but at some point we—as a society—decided that it was indecent to consume a carbohydrate on or in another carbohydrate. There are some exceptions, such as Taco Bell’s now retired spicy potato soft taco and the UK’s chip butty, but in most circles, carb-on-carb is a fairly rare…

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Source: LifeHacker – Should You Eat Ramen on Toast?

The Coolest Gadgets of 2020

It didn’t feel like it, what with a major pandemic and massive financial crisis, but 2020 was actually an incredible year for gadgets. For companies like Apple and Microsoft, this could have been a landmark year were it not for everything else going on. While the competition for our attention this year was steep,…

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Source: Gizmodo – The Coolest Gadgets of 2020

FAA finally sets rules for piloting small drones

FAA finally sets rules for piloting small drones

Enlarge (credit: Bruce Bennett/Getty Images)

After months of uncertainty, corporations and hobbyists alike finally have a set of drone guidelines from the Federal Aviation Administration. The final rules are a step back from some proposed restrictions, as they will allow flights over crowds and some nighttime operations. But all drones weighing over 0.25kg (0.55lb) will need to have a unique Remote ID, as will smaller drones that are flown over crowds.

One proposal that didn’t make the final cut would have required Remote ID to connect over the Internet to a location-tracking database so drone operations could be monitored in real time by the FAA (and law enforcement). The FAA believes that Remote ID, which will locally transmit the location of both drone and “control stations,” meets the needs of national security and law enforcement.

“These final rules carefully address safety, security and privacy concerns while advancing opportunities for innovation and utilization of drone technology,” said US Secretary of Transportation Elaine L. Chao in a press release.

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Source: Ars Technica – FAA finally sets rules for piloting small drones

Bring an old MacBook back to life with Linux

Recently, I stumbled on an old MacBook Pro 13″ from late 2011, with a 125GB SSD and 8GB RAM. I’ve taken this machine on trips around the world, and back in the day, I ran many a session, workshop, or demo to share all the AppDev goodness from JBoss technologies.After verifying that its battery works, charging it up, and reinstalling a new OS X, it turns out that the Safari browser version is limited to an old security specification, which means it can’t connect to a lot of HTTPS sites now. This renders this solution defunct.What to do with this old thing?read more

Source: LXer – Bring an old MacBook back to life with Linux

Gal Gadot’s Wonder Woman Is a Trash Friend

Wonder Woman is supposed to be the best of women. This isn’t me starry-eyed about a fictional character and forcing her to be a defender and icon. William Moulton Marston created her to be the best of women. The character, besides being heavily rooted in Marston’s love of bondage, was also rooted in his love for women…

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Source: io9 – Gal Gadot’s Wonder Woman Is a Trash Friend

Police Turn To Car Data To Destroy Suspects' Alibis

In recent years, investigators have realized that automobiles — particularly newer models — can be treasure troves of digital evidence. Their onboard computers generate and store data that can be used to reconstruct where a vehicle has been and what its passengers were doing. From a report: They reveal everything from location, speed and acceleration to when doors were opened and closed, whether texts and calls were made while the cellphone was plugged into the infotainment system, as well as voice commands and web histories. But that boon for forensic investigators creates fear for privacy activists, who warn that the lack of information security baked into vehicles’ computers poses a risk to consumers and who call for safeguards to be put in place. “I hear a lot of analogies of cars being smartphones on wheels. But that’s vastly reductive,” said Andrea Amico, founder of Privacy4Cars, which makes a free app that helps people delete their data from automobiles and makes its money by offering the service to rental companies and dealerships. “If you think about the amount of sensors in a car, the smartphone is a toy. A car has GPS, an accelerometer, a camera. A car will know how much you weigh. Most people don’t realize this is happening.”

Law enforcement agencies have been focusing their investigative efforts on two main information sources: the telematics system — which is like the “black box” — and the infotainment system. The telematics system stores a vehicle’s turn-by-turn navigation, speed, acceleration and deceleration information, as well as more granular clues, such as when and where the lights were switched on, the doors were opened, seat belts were put on and airbags were deployed. The infotainment system records recent destinations, call logs, contact lists, text messages, emails, pictures, videos, web histories, voice commands and social media feeds. It can also keep track of the phones that have been connected to the vehicle via USB cable or Bluetooth, as well as all the apps installed on the device. Together, the data allows investigators to reconstruct a vehicle’s journey and paint a picture of driver and passenger behavior. In a criminal case, the sequence of doors opening and seat belts being inserted could help show that a suspect had an accomplice.

Read more of this story at Slashdot.



Source: Slashdot – Police Turn To Car Data To Destroy Suspects’ Alibis

Beloved Star Trek Actor’s Ashes Have Been Secretly Stowed Aboard The ISS For Over A Decade

Beloved Star Trek Actor’s Ashes Have Been Secretly Stowed Aboard The ISS For Over A Decade
Sometimes life is stranger than fiction. Some of the ashes of James Doohan, who played Montgomery “Scotty” Scott in the original Star Trek series, are reportedly aboard the International Space Station (ISS). The secret has been kept for twelve years and Doohan’s family has only now deemed it safe to reveal it.

The ashes of Doohan were placed

Source: Hot Hardware – Beloved Star Trek Actor’s Ashes Have Been Secretly Stowed Aboard The ISS For Over A Decade